Darkness that will remain
by KiriaCousland
Summary: In the 1980 Liwia, Silver Saint of Fox, arrived in Greece as a Sanctuary Guest. A substitute for home, faithful friendships and one of the Golden Knights being very precious for her... Until the unfortunate events came and changed the girl forever. The constellations in the sky are fading, and here begins another cycle leading to the devastating Holy War.
1. Uroboros

**Hi everyone! This is the English version of my original Polish fanfic "Mrok, który zostanie". I hope that in this language version someone will read my story and comment :) This is also an opportunity for me to train English, so any suggestions, especially regarding errors or possible idioms are welcome :)**

**Two information to start with: 1) the main character's name is Liwia (read: Livia; in Polish we have „w" instead of "v"); 2) the story begins in 1980.**

**Enjoy!**

**Uroboros**

Grand Master Shion leaned against the stone balustrade of the temple terrace. He closed his eyes and sought his friend's cosmic energy for a moment. Finally he heard a familiar voice:

„I am here, old friend. Something happened?"

„Hello, Dohko. I thought... I thought you would be interested to know which of the knights this time I chose as a Sanctuary Guest."

„Hmm… Let me think... Is that... impossible! Don't tell me, my friend, that history has come full circle!"

Shion sighed sadly.

„I've thought about it for a long time. Did I have a chance to trick fate? Could I have chosen someone else? Probably yes, but would that really change the outcome of all future Holy War?"

„I doubt it," the Old Master comforted him. „Remember that the Cycles are not identical. Just look at us."

They laughed, though it wasn't much of a joy.

„So, Silver Fox Saint. From Poland?"

„Currently from the Polish People's Republic, yes. Her master, at my request, described how the girl looks. I hope he didn't think anything inappropriate," Shion muttered.

„Brunette? Blue eyes?"

„Of course. I don't understand this, because some of the knights look completely different. Except dots, Mu are not very similar to me," snorted Temple superior.

„Maybe because you became his master. Who knows if he wouldn't have disheveled greenish shag if you died those two hundred years ago," laughed Roshi.

„I do not wish this to anyone. Shag, I mean. Pity that it's not so simple, because it would be enough to search for strikingly similar looking people every two hundred years. Something like a beauty contest instead of fighting in the arena for armor. By the way: in a decade, battles for Bronze Armors will begin. If any youngster looks like Tenma, I'll send him to you right away."

„Gods forbid! This time I would like someone less madcap, thank you very much. Under the Rozan Waterfall lays an armor, so I will bring up a decent, patient student who will become a Dragon Saint. At least I hope so. Enough Meteors," he added and it sounded a little bit sad. After a moment he shaked off. „If there will be a repetition, they will look like two peas in a pod! Do you remember that bastard, Asmita?"

„Yes," Shion smiled and nodded. „Shaka looks identical, one to one. But he's just worse."

„I didn't know it's possible. Although, in principle, I heard about his nickname. In any case keep an eye on the situation, my friend. The Uroboros snake devours its tail, and the new Cycle is just beginning."

"And then the gods descend into the world of mortals," Shion nodded, sighed and ended the telepathic conversation.

Athens was falling in dusk.


	2. Sansara

**Sansara**

The Daewoo Maepsy has arrived at the Sanctuary. The chauffeur had a hard work to save his vehicle and prevent from hitting to the bare rocks, which protrude from around the corners.

"Oh. There she is." Aldebaran crossed his arms and focused his gaze on the ajar door of the vehicle.

"She has come a long way," Mu whispered. "And even longer before her."

"Months ago Aphrodite applied for the elevator, eventually we have the eighties, but the Grand Master is too old-fashioned for such ideas. _Oh, porra_! What a girl!"

"Bull, control your tendencies," Mu told him flatly, but he had to admit that the newcomer presented... inviting.

Liwia got out of the car and stretched hard. The worn edge of the denim jacket rose above her waist; it wasn't the most comfortable cloth, but it looked awesome. With a careless movement of her hand, she brushed black strands of hair from her forehead and yawned powerfully. First a taxi ride, then travel by plane, and now a rock rally. She hoped that today they will not require any demonstration of the efficiency. If so, she would charm them with her Slav eyes. Or other part of body. She reached into her pocket, pulled out a blood-red lipstick and painted her lips, bringing her face close to the car mirror.

"There will be troubles with her," Mu muttered.

"_Meu amigo_! She doesn't wear a mask! I just noticed it." Aldebaran slapped his sizable forehead with a hand big like a shovel. "She has any special permission or what?"

"In her country, women fought so often that they did not have to be ashamed of their sex. At least, that's what the legend says." Knight of the Ram watched as girl was approaching them closely. "If you were at the morning briefing, you would know."

"What, you saying that Greek girls are less brave? Er, just sneak up near their training yards to deny it." Bull bared his fangs in smile.

Liwia pulled harder the strap attached to the silver armor box. She stood before two Golden Saints and gave a respectful bow. Mu had to admit that due to her appearance, he did not expect it.

"Messrs Mu and Aldebaran, I suppose," she said in a fairly low voice for her sixteen years. "Liwia, Silver Knight of Fox. In response to the Grand Master's invitation."

"Welcome, Liwia, to the Temple of Athena." Mu nodded slightly. "A Sanctuary Guest arrives. Will he stay or leave, only his destiny knows. What will be yours?" he asked using words of the sacred tradition.

"Time will tell, it's my choise," she answered with rest of the formula and smiled broadly.

"So it will be," said Mu. "Our Taurus will take you on a tour through all twelve palaces, he will answer the questions and explain the nuances of our temple life. I know you have had a long journey, but every Sanctuary Guest goes through it. Every five years, these tiers learn new footsteps," half-said, half-whispered the Golden Knight.

"I can handle. I was defeating worse opponents than stairs." Still smiling, Liwia improved again the belts from the silver chest.

"We'll talk about this in front of the Grand Master's Temple," Aldebaran winked. "So, Mu, you probably will present us the first House, right?"

"Us? You know the ins and outs of my Temple, you go around here almost every day," snorted Knight of the Aries, but led them to the colonnade, decorating his Palace.

Liwia, more or less, imagined the Houses of the Zodiac like that: richly carved porticos, glistening stone floors, and huge marble statues. The only thing she couldn't imagine were the knights' quarters: did they have small gyms there? Or large bedrooms with four-poster beds? Or maybe their rooms resembled prison cells proper for tough warriors?

"It's an individual matter," Aldebaran answered her as they left Aries House. "I doubt that any of the knights would like to show you the private part of the Palace, out of respect do not even ask them."

Liwia sighed, disappointed, and the Bull just laughed. His own room was more spacious and more visible than the first House. He also had less rounding in the decorations, everything was characterized by a strict, angular practicality, rather than a fluid, elegant line.

"Here is my estate!" Aldebaran boomed, the words echoing away. "Visit, my dear maiden, to your heart's content, because you will not experience such freedom in others Houses."

"Really? Can I?" Liwia did not wait for an answer and, regardless of the weight of the silver crate, ran along a narrow side of the corridor, which she thought was reaching private quarters. First she noticed a stone recess, which turned out to be a shower; next to it was probably a toilet, but the girl walked forward and reached the fork. On the left was the bedroom: simple, practical, with a large, wide bed, just for the giant Aldebaran was. The room had a huge, unobstructed window, from where was a fabulous view of Athens. "I wonder what they see from the Pisces House, then. The globe?" flashed through her mind.

She returned to the fork and followed to the right, where something like the living room was located. Two sofas falling apart, stained with unidentified substances surrounded a large block of wood, which probably was a table. Colorful, homely and... youthful room.

"Hunky-dory!" she exclaimed, seeing the walls plastered with posters of footballers and rock bands.

"He is the hero of the 1970 World Cup." Aldebaran appeared behind her and pointed to the poster with the player, above which was written Pele. "And this-" the knight pointed to another footballer "-is a kind of competition from Argentina. But damn good." In the autographed photo was a smiling man; Maradona Liwia read the initials.

"I know them." The girl smiled, pointing to the poster of Queen band. "My aunt managed to smuggle their album and I secretly showed Bohemian Rhapsody to my friends."

"Oh yeah, good song. They are great too." Bull nodded towards the slightly battered poster of the AC/DC group. "What a voice, if they finally give my gramophone out of repair, I will show you."

"And what happened that it is under repair?"

"Internal affairs of the Golden Knights," he said in an official tone, but he was clearly choking with laughter. "Okay, little one, let's not waste time, we have a long way to go."

She wanted to take outrage at this little one, but finally shrugged. For this big man everyone was of a meager height. Besides, she just began to like him.

After a multitude of stairs, they almost reached the House of Gemini.

"This is Saga's residence," Aldebaran muttered, and Liwia had the impression that the word residence was pronounced bitterly. "Hell knows, if we will find a host, because he has been very busy these days."

"By what? What do you actually do every day? You know, in addition to training and all of this stuff."

"We train students, if we have any," Knight of the Bull began to enumerate. "We deal with the technical condition of the Sanctuary, doing shift-patrols in Athens, Aquarius Camus sometimes even helps in the City Hall or in the court, because, you know, he is a scholar one. Although we are joking that he should earn some extra money in waterworks," the man laughed. "And Saga... is preparing, I think. The Grand Master said some time ago that he has his age and you never know what might happen, so he would like to know now who he have to prepare for his successor. The natural order of things is to choose the oldest among us. However, the age-old Knight of Libra is extremely rare here, basically only in exceptional situations. For reasons he knows only, Roshi sits day after day in the Five Hills Valley in China. So besides him, there are two oldest peers who apply to take the lead: Sagittarius Aiolos and Saga, under the sign of Gemini. I have no idea what this latter is doing day after day, because he is still disappearing, and when he is already present, it is impossible to talk with him normally."

"So, you are Sagittarius supporter?"

Aldebaran gave her an askance look.

"I'm a babbler, I introduce you to the matters of Golden Saints, although I absolutely shouldn't. Enough of this. Anyway, focus now. I don't feel the cosmic energy of Saga, so we'll have to deal with his illusions."

"Illusions?" she asked and when they approached the third House of the Zodiac, she had to rub her eyes. It helped, because after a while she saw only one, not two palaces. They entered the House and a cool shadow enveloped them. Liwia walked half a step behind the Taurus Knight, looking carefully sideways. She had the strange feeling that the Twins' Palace resembled a long corridor. Unrealistically long, because logic suggested that they should have left on the other side of the building a long time ago.

"We need to speed up," Aldebaran muttered and started running. The girl squeezed harder the straps of the chest and tried to keep up with him. Then some chiaroscuro began to cross their path. Liwia felt strange, as if someone were playing with her and laying a path in front of her legs according to his own vision. And she really didn't like when someone was rummaging in her brain. She concentrated her cosmic energy and tried to cut herself off from the visual traps of the maze they ran through. She could almost feel alien consciousness knocking on the door of her mind.

"Faster!" Aldebaran urged. "And stay close to me!"

She kept up. At some point, she felt something like the rush of air that came to her from an absurd place, because from inside of the wall on the left side of the colonnade.

"Follow me!" Bull shouted and turned right there, without losing anything from the speed of his run. Liwia doubted for a moment, they could hit the one meter thick wall after all, but it lasted only a second. She resumed running, leveled herself with the Golden Knight, and wishing that their intuition would prove infallible, she threw herself directly on the cold stone of the palace. She screamed at that moment and suddenly it became bright. She opened her eyes. They stood together at the exit of the third House of the Zodiac.

"_Bravo, garota_. You did quite well." Aldebaran said appreciatively; he thought that the Grand Master knew what he was doing by inviting her.

"It was... a strange feeling," Liwia murmured, looking back at the angular entrance to the House of Twins. "The host is a powerful knight, right?"

"Yes. At least he is considered as one of the most powerful."

"Oh, one of. Which one else? You, for sure."

"Don't be silly," Aldebaran laughed and climbed the stairs with Liwia. "These are obviously only our presumptions, but in fact there are ones among us whose cosmic energy is extremely powerful. Not that we had the opportunity to find out for ourselves, luckily. But the Golden Saints feel a mutual cosmo much more intensely than the rest."

She realized that he did not answer her question, but she didn't delve into the topic any more. She was only sixteen and could be considered as a hothead, but she wasn't stupid. A little over-zealous inquiry and Aldebaran will pay attention to every word.

They continued climbing.

"Cancer House ahead. It is guarded by Deathmask," said the Golden Knight.

"Cool nickname. And what is his name?"

Aldebaran snorted.

"If I tell you, he would send me to the gates of Hades. Thank you very much, I prefer not. Perhaps one day you will find out, it would make conversations a lot easier, because calling him _per_ Deathmask all the time is embarrassingly pathetic."

The sun was quite high when they reached the fourth palace. Liwia noticed that it had a different shape than the previous ones: built on a cross plan, it invited with a shaded entrance from both sides. Inside, darkness definitely thickened. No windows, no clearances. Darkness and... a cemetery smell?

"Deathmask, huh?" she murmured.

"I will not lie to you, the host is not a role model," Aldebaran opened his eyes wide, which are not used to the lack of light yet.

"I feel offended, Taurus. Get in the fight!"

Golden Cancer Knight emerged from the veil of darkness. He had short, disheveled hair, an olive skin of the southerner, and a flash of madness in his eyes.

"_Foda-se você_, Italian pussy!"

"Oh my, how rudely! What kind of knight are you? Such behavior next to the lady?"

"In the sense that next to you? You've heard worse," Aldebaran said defiantly.

Liwia was looking from one to the another with her mouth half-open in surprise. Finally, after the ghastly long silence, the men roared and patted their backs.

"What, Macaroni, Milan is catching up, eh? _Via dolorosa_ to Serie A?"

"Say nothing. I have them deep in my ass since the Totonero affair. I support Juventus now. There are rumors that they are supposed to take a Pole to the team." Deathmask glanced at Liwia, and everything in her stomach turned over. "By the way... hello, sweet girl. Welcome to humble doorstep of my home." The man suddenly approached her and kissed her hand before she could do anything. "Don't listen to the nonsense that jealous people talks about me, I wouldn't hurt a fly, my beautiful, let alone a gentle creature like you." He kept holding her hand, and began to stroke her fingers with his thumb.

"Stop it," Aldebaran growled seriously, but Mask stared at the Polish woman's blue eyes.

Until he shout and abruptly withdrew his hand. The inside of the palm was covered with a red burn mark.

"Thank you for your attention, it flatters me immensely, but I'm not dealing with strangers. I don't even know your name," Liwia replied, reassuring her turbulent cosmic energy.

The men laughed again.

"She has a temper, I see," said Cancer, fanning his red hand to cool her a bit. "I think we'll like each other."

"I don't doubt it," said Aldebaran. "Let's go, we are wasting the day."

"So soon?" Mask opposed. "She has not seen my private quarters yet, and she certainly dreams about it."

"I don't doubt it," Taurus repeated, and followed the girl who had hastily moved toward the exit a moment before.

The next steps brought them closer to the Lion House.

"I hope this moron won't bother you," Aldebaran broke the silence and looked at Liwia with concern.

She smiled. And to the knight's surprise, it was a sly smile full of pugnacity.

"I can deal with such. His interest may even be useful to me sometimes. It's better to have someone like him on your side after all, right?"

Aldebaran clogged a little. But in one she was right.

"Yeah, it is better. Don't be fooled by his theatricality, he can kill so easily that you may not even notice. It's not a walking piece of knightly honor, oh no. But maybe I shouldn't judge, in the end each of us went through hell before getting the Golden Armor. Who knows what he had to do in Italy to survive. There are just legends," he sighed.

Liwia was silent for some time, wondering if her training and Fire Test during the Forefathers' Eve were like playing in the sandbox compared to their past. She shook herself of memories when they reached the fifth palace.

"And here we are. This time it will be quickly sightseeing."

"This knight is gay or what?"

At first Aldebaran looked at her confused, and then, when he understood, he roared with laughter.

"Better. Nobody is here at all. In a few days the Golden Lion Armor is going to be awarded to one of the trainees, unless, of course, the armor itself accepts the chosen one. Although there should be no surprise in this regard."

"What do you mean?" she asked. They were approaching the gate of the palace. The whole building reminded her of the Grand Theater in Poznań, which she saw as a little girl. It was probably because of two stone lions on both sides of the entrance and a triangular top of the facade, so typical of Greek architecture.

"The younger brother of Aiolos, the Golden Knight of Sagittarius, trains to get this honor. Knowing Aiolia, he will give his all. He is extremely proud for such a young boy, and at the same time unyielding and brave. A little too madcap, but, well, he is as old as you, so you know," smiled giant.

"Not at all. I am a paragon of restraint."

"Yeah, calm as war."

Their footsteps echoed in the empty corridors between the columns. Shadows danced along the walls, thanks to the torches hung throughout the palace. Red pennants suspended from the ceiling slightly undulated due to onerous drafts.

"Pretty nice," she said, looking around. "And as calmly as we said earlier."

"It won't last long. Aiolia, if he manages to stay here of course, will change this place into a real lion's den. I heard from his brother that he is not a walking example of order. But… you will find enough peace and order in the next palace."

"Virgo Temple."

"Yhm."

"Something's wrong?"

"No, no. Just let's try to get through this House as soon as possible, okay?"

"Do I feel anxiety in you?"

"Virgo Saint just doesn't like being disturbed in his meditations," he replied, sounding convincing, but Liwia felt that Aldebaran didn't want to have much in common with the host of the sixth palace. She felt intrigued.

"Meditations? What, he is some Buddhist?"

"Yes," he answered dully. "If only," added more quietly.

"Another non-Greek? I didn't think so many foreigners would be among the Golden Knights."

"Oh, yes." Aldebaran was happy about this slight change of subject. "Mu is from Tibet, I am from Brazil. Saga, as far as I know, is local. Mask, as you noticed, is an Italian, and Shaka, that is Virgo Knight, is from India. Then we have the Old Master who stays in his homeland, China. Later there is Scorpio Milo: half-Greek, half-Spanish. Aiolos and his brother are native Greeks, Capricorn Shura is a hot-blooded Spaniard, so he is still chattering with Milo about their football teams. Aquarius Camus is Russian after his father and French after his mother, a strange combination, I know, but he prefers polar climate, as if you were asking. What I completely don't understand. And finally Pisces Aphrodite, a similar connection because he is Swede-French. However, he prefers the Cote d'Azur, he also looks as if he just escaped from the catwalk of the Paris fashion show. Oh, and the Grand Master himself, like his student Mu, is from Tibet."

"And I, the icing on the cake," Liwia laughed. "A dose of Slav blood for this multicultural mix. It's good that we all speek English."

"Some don't," Aldebaran sighed. "You should see how Shura tried to get along with Capella, a barrel of laughs. It ended with sign language."

The sun was scorching. Liwia long time ago removed her denim jacket, but she still felt that under the silver box her back getting unbearably wet. She almost missed the cool drizzle, that rained in her homeland in the day she left.

Finally, the sixth Zodiac House emerged from an endless staircase. On both sides of the entrance stood huge statues of some Buddhist deities standing on a platform made of stone lotus. It felt as if they were laughing at tiny people crossing the threshold of the palace. Even Aldebaran was a cute miniature compared to them.

"Okay, let's get it over with," the knight murmured, and very tense entered the building. Liwia followed him.

She took just a few steps and stopped, unknowingly. Wide-open eyes admired the paradise landscape that was all around. The whole valley was bathed in golden sunlight, the grass waved in the wind, the petals of pink flowers danced in the air. The birds chirped on the branches of rose bushes, a stream whispered somewhere nearby. There was an incense scent of sandalwood everywhere. It was beautiful, heavenly beautiful. So why was her heart beating like a hammer, and she got a gooseflesh? The aura of cosmic energy that reached her was warm and calm. So why was she afraid to approach?

Aldebaran gestured to her, not wanting to disturb the silence with his loud voice. It was obvious that he was walking tense, as if dreaming that less than a 150-kilogram body would become a feather and would not make any sound of steps in the ground. The girl's neck was sweat cold. They were getting closer to the source, she felt it.

The illusion dispelled like a golden dream. A knight sat cross-legged in front of them on a slight stepped rise. His hands resting on his knees, the tips of long blond hair lay on the cold floor tiles. The man's eyes were closed.

Liwia stood rooted to the spot. She couldn't explain the sudden impression, but she felt as if she had seen him somewhere before. She waited impatiently for the Golden Knight to look at his guests, but nothing like that happened.

Aldebaran cleared his throat.

"Forgive the intrusion, Shaka, but as you know, we have a guest. This is-"

"I am Liwia, Silver Knight of Fox," the girl regained her voice. She bowed formally and straightened up quickly. She couldn't stop staring at the Virgo Saint. With this meditative pose he reminded her of some eastern god.

There was no answer. Nor any reaction that the host noticed their presence.

"So… we'll go now," Aldebaran muttered, and tugged at the girl's arm, but Liwia broke free from his embrace. She didn't know what's gotten into her, but she couldn't leave this palace like that.

"I just want to say hello," she said, taking two steps forward.

"Liwia!" Aldebaran shouted with a note of fear in his voice.

The girl, however, was like in a trance.

"I just want to say hello," she repeated, still approaching the Golden Knight. She could clearly see his face wrapped in a golden helmet, felt the vibrations of power on her skin, so peaceful that it was terrifying. Then she took the last step. Her body was immediately paralyzed, she could neither move forward nor back. The legs completely refused to obey, as if they did not belong to her. The cosmo impulse jerked her down and she landed on her knees. She was kneeling before the self-proclaimed idol.

"That's it, Shaka!" growled Aldebaran, but he was stopped in half a step, as easily as Liwia before. "I said enough, you goddamn Buddha's incarnation!"

Perhaps it just seemed to her, but she had the impression that the corner of the Virgo's lips slightly raised. The energy pressure has disappeared. She stood up and rubbed her knees, hatefully squinting eyes. She was still staring at the calm figure of the man.

"Buddha's incarnation?" she snorted. "Yeah, for sure. But if it's true, then Buddha did not go well with his nirvana. He wasn't about to be reborn again, right?"

She turned on her heel and joined Taurus. Aldebaran took her arm hastily and they headed toward the exit without looking back.

A pity, because they would see an extremely rare view: Shaka with his eyes open, staring at the girl with some kind of curiosity.

As they move away at a relatively safe distance, Aldebaran yell at Liwia:

"I hope this was your last escapade. When I say to stop, you stop, am I clear? Why you had to approaching?"

"It's him."

"What?"

"He is the most powerful of the Golden Saints."

Aldebaran snorted.

"You think that way because this is the first of us who was arrogant enough to present his power."

"No, that's not the point. This aura..."

The girl looked into his eyes and asked with utmost seriousness:

"Do you know my baptism names?"

"What are you-"

"Liwia Kasandra. And to make it funnier, I deserved my middle name as soon as I was seven. I dreamed of a colorful ball, all cover in blood. My friend from the yard had the same. I asked her to get rid of it, but Tosia went to play, as usual. And here is a classic story: the ball bounces off the wall, flies towards the road, Tośka runs behind it, and then car hit her. She ended up with a broken leg, arm and torn skin, because the car did not go fast. Tosia never talked with me again. About three years later, I dreamed of a lottery ticket. Unfortunately, I didn't see any numbers, so I forgot about the case. Until one day when I was returning with my aunt and uncle from a walk in the park. I noticed some paper lying on the leaves of a water lily in a nearby pond. Since I was always inquisitive, I wanted to reach for it with a stick or even jump, but of course my aunt got rid of such ideas out of my mind. Later, a neighbor told us with excitement how her friend found a lottery coupon in a pond near the park and won so much that he could afford for Fiat 126p."

"Are you saying that you dreamed about Shaka?"

Liwia nodded.

"I knew I had seen this knight somewhere before. I'm sure I saw him in my vision a few years ago."

"So what, he is supposed to pick you a lottery numbers, or do you prefer to beat him because some poor car will crash into his cosmic energy?"

The girl burst out laughing.

"I don't know, time will tell. Maybe this dream was just an announcement of my arrival? Nevertheless... it will sound silly, I know, but I remember the vibrations of his cosmo. Terrifyingly calm, warm and dangerous."

Bull Saint didn't know what to say. He was more inclined to believe that Shaka somehow mixed up in the girl's mind that she would worship him, but, as a matter of fact, he didn't know much about Liwia yet. He decided to watch out for blonde man; in case of another attack on Fox Saint, he will do it differently.

Drowned in their own thoughts, they reached the seventh palace.

"Oh, we're here. This is the House of the Knight of Libra, Palace of the Old Master. As I said, he is currently in the Five Hills Valley. It is said that he has something like two hundred and fifty years."

"Are you kidding me?"

"That's true, I swear to God. I immediately anticipate the question: I do not know how it was possible. Probably something happened during the last Holy War, which Roshi survived, being around our age."

"So he knows what it was like before?"

"Well... yes."

"And?"

"The Old Master says when he wants, he has more important things to do than tell stories."

"But it must be extremely important! After all, it's always one of the gods, right? If there is someone who survived a similar fight-"

"Don't get excited, little one. If anything would help our Athena in a future war, Old Master would make sure that it will be discussed and so on. We just have to execute orders."

Liwia wanted to protest, but eventually gave up. She was surprised by this indifference, because they knew so little about the past incarnations of Athena and the Holy Wars as if all knowledge was dying with their predecessors. Or was carefully hidden, she thought suddenly. But what would be the purpose of such an act – Liwia didn't know. She sighed and looked around the palace.

"You may be interested in the fact," Aldebaran broke the silence, "that the Libra Armor is very different from the others. It not only protects the body, but also allows you to use the twelve weapons that are an integral part of it."

"Ooooh."

"I knew that will be your reaction," the man smiled. "It consists of six pairs of weapons: nunchaku, swords, tridents, three-section staffs, tonfas and sharp-edged shields. Others can use this arsenal only with the permission of the Knight of Libra. He has the right to decide, therefore he is the personification of justice."

"Cool. I would like to try them someday."

"And I hope that will never happen because it would mean that we are totally fucked. If you'll pardon the expression."

"Come on, I'm from Poland, I know a whole range of stronger terms."

"I'm looking forward to hear them one day. Let's go, next stop: Scorpion House!"

Sun was blazing hot. Liwia was constantly correcting the straps from the silver box and panted heavily.

"Not accustomed to such heat, huh?" The Knight of the Bull took off his horned helmet and ruffled his dark, flagged hair. "A few days and you'll get used to it."

"Sure thing. I can handle infernal heat, but never cold."

"You and I have an understanding. Milo, whenever he can, makes fun of his best friend, cold-hearted Camus. Aquarius is unlucky, he will still be the only one who prefers biting frosts to a dog-day."

"So how did they make friends, in spring or autumn?"

"Everyone likes Milo. He can win people over, though he is a typical mean Scorpio. If he is fixated to something, it's over. He is very vigorous and he usually organizes whatever is to be organized. He won't sit still, so don't be surprised when you see him at the vegetable market in the center of Athens or in the sky, if he wants to jump with a parachute. Anyway, look, he couldn't even wait for us calmly at his Zodiac House."

Liwia raised her head: at the top of the stairs, leaning against one of the columns of the eighth palace stood the Golden Knight of Scorpion. He was smiling.

"Hello there. Silver Fox Knight, I suppose? I'm Milo," the young man stretched out his right hand. Liwia shook it. Scorpion was good-looking. Really good-looking.

"Liwia. Great helmet."

"Yeah." Milo took off this piece of armor and gave it to the girl who was fascinated with the scorpion's tail. "After all I got a nice shell."

"Doesn't that interrupt your fight?" Liwia pointed at the tail. "Doesn't it crash when you striking at the speed of light or hitting you in the head when you stop?"

"If so, then too hard to remember this moment," Milo grinned. He led them deep into his palace, presenting the corridor, the room behind the colonnade, which was his vigil place and entrance to private rooms. He was looking at Liwia out of the corner of his eye, appraising every inch of her body. "A dancer?"

Surprised girl confirmed with a nod.

"How did you know?"

"That's our local John Travolta," Aldebaran replied instead. "When he hear any tact, he ask to dance the first woman, who will not run away immediately."

"Well, certainly no one would run away from you, because it's hard to make a break when two hundred kilos traps you."

"Bloody biting scorpion. You'd better see how dusty is your House. The shortest Palace of the Zodiac, and dirty, like at a stadium."

"Ah, it was brought from Aiolos' Palace. You know that he lives with ideas only, dust and dirt are magically repelled from this holy man."

"Yhm. Okay, then we will go to this holy man and ask about his view of the matter."

"He'll say that it's from the Shura's House."

"And what will Shura say?"

"Shura will say: Indeed, this is the vice of the unworthy knight, to lest run over the rag, making the floor a dirty one."

They roared with such laughter that Shura must have heard him these two palaces away. Liwia did not catch the joke.

"You'll understand when we get to the Capricorn House," Aldebaran wiped a tear of amusement.

"Tell the first stiff guy that he owe me one for the bet. His Castilla lose to Real, did you see the match?" asked Milo.

"I had a patrol. White Finale, eh?"

"Yeah, Shura almost chopped with his Excalibur the wall unit in the pub. Oh, and tell the other stiff guy that he is supposed to arrange Russian vodka for Mu's birthday. Well chilled."

"Okay, okay," Aldebaran laughed and together with Liwia started to leave the Scorpion House. The girl looked back, and Milo solemnly saluted for her.

On the way to the ninth Palace, Aldebaran told her a little about Aiolos, the Knight of Sagittarius. The man helps various social organizations several times a week: once he gave lessons in an orphanage, at the other time he took dogs for a walk from the shelter. They knew him in a retirement home, where he found time to listen to stories about old times, and they knew him on the street, where beggars spoke his name.

"What an exemplar, it is hard to believe it," said Liwia.

"Yes, sometimes it's difficult to bear. You know, you have your faults yet you always try to be moral. But if you start comparing yourself to Sagittarius, then even when you keep your hands on the table while eating, you feel defiled."

"You haven't tried, I don't know, humanize him somehow? Piss off, drunk, ridicule?"

"It's not that Aiolos resembles a marble statue: he'll drink if there is the opportunity, he also jokes from time to time. But you have to understand that he is an older brother, he requires a lot from himself to bring up Aiolia well. Replacing parents probably is not very conducive to the easy-going."

They were silent for a moment.

"What about you, little one? What about your family?"

Liwia brushed the stuck strands of hair back from her wet forehead.

"My parents died in an accident nine years ago. Since then, my mother's sister took care of me. Uncle was a firefighter and died during one of the rescue operations, so my aunt was alone with this duty. She had no children, so from the beginning it was not easy for us to get along. But eventually she supported me when I decided to become a knight. Parents did not even want to hear about it," she smiled slightly.

"So you didn't have easy life either."

"Others were in a much worse situation, for example Scutum Saint, Janek, who was training with me. Every day he came to the practise beaten up, whipped. His stepfather had a firm hand, but Janek, though he could, did not defend himself at all. He was afraid that if he awakens his cosmo for a moment, he wouldn't stop. Finally the karma returned: his stepfather overdosed and died in hospital. Janek continued to walk hungry and in tattered clothes, but without bruises. I grew up in a fairly wealthy family: I had private tutors and extracurricular activities: fencing, dancing, archery, horse riding courses. I had access to many things my peers could only dream of: my country does not have the freedom everyone deserves. But this will probably change, Poles have always fought, regardless of the enemy's strength."

"Your parents must have been under a microscope of current authorities."

Liwia sighed.

"Not really. My mother was an archeologist and my father – a paleontologist, they were involved in excavations in the Soviet Union. They found the dinosaur fossils, and by chance they also found substantial deposits of natural gas. They proved that they are useful, and their achievements could be boasted to the world, so we could do more than others. Thanks to foreign trips I learned English quickly, I also know some Russian. Yeah… And then, after all, I shouted in my aunt's face that I wanted to train as a knight, to be one of those my mother told me while traveling around Greece."

There was a moment of silence.

"You probably know that we are all orphans too," said Aldebaran.

"Yes, it's even a rule, right? Fate knows what it is doing, after all a soldier without a family is less afraid to die."

"Not fate, I would say, but Athena. In the end, she also incarnates in an orphaned child. That is why we try to be a family for each other."

Liwia nodded, but she lost in her thoughts about family. Would mother and father be proud of her? What would they say at the sight of her armor? Have they even thought for a moment that this amazing story that was told to them by a friend from China, the story they began to explore, until it turned out to be true, would be shared by their daughter?

She barely noticed that the stairs were over. They were at the threshold of the House of Sagittarius. The columned entrance did not stand out as anything special, but at the top of the portico stood a statue of a winged, arching centaur that made the right impression. The interior, unlike the House of Cancer or Scorpio, was bathed in the golden light of the sun, penetrating through the stone walls with numerous windows. Liwia was extremely curious how the palace host cope during the storm. When they saw him sitting on a stone bench with a book, the question flew out of her head.

They could forge his image in marble. The Greek was tanned, muscled, had dark brown hair, held with a burgundy headband. And he had a charming smile.

"Welcome to the Sagittarius Temple," the man approached Liwia and bowed to her knightly. "My name is Aiolos."

"I know," she replied silly. Then laughed, little abashed and said: "And I am Liwia, Silver Vulpecula Saint."

"I know," answered Sagittarius and happy sparks played in his gaze. "How was your trip?"

"Thank you, quite tolerable, although I'm trying to get used to the heat. Don't you have air conditioning?"

"Air conditioning, elevator, telephone. Everything is not enough ancient."

"It's good that there were stairs in Seneca's time, otherwise you would slide on the ramps," Liwia joked.

Aiolos laughed like a young god. This is probably how Apollo looked like when he wanted to charm someone.

"Let me guess," Liwia continued, pointing at the knight's book. She climbed to the heights of sarcasm. "Is it the Iliad and the Odyssey? Or maybe In Catilinam by Cicero?"

"Eh no. This is Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, Camus lent me this when I had nothing to read."

"And what, did you like Rodion?"

"I don't want to have a friend like that. Although M...ask resembles him a little," he muttered.

Liwia made a mental note that she had to check the male Italian names for "M" in the library.

"Why don't you eat something? I still have some fries and a salad."

Liwia looked at Aldebaran pleadingly. She was starving. Fortunately, the giant was not from those who refuse a free meal.

The conversation was loose. The girl promised to go with Aiolos to all those places where the man brings help and give something from herself. Sagittarius also told her about the specific attacks of each knight, at least about those of which he knew. On leaving, Liwia wished his brother a successful passing of the final test to the Golden Knight. With a new dose of strength, they headed for the tenth palace.

"So, now is the Capricorn House, and knight's name is Shura. A Spaniard who chops with his spectral sword Excalibur everything in his way when his favorite football team loses the match. Did I miss something?" asked Liwia.

"The best is yet to come, little one" Aldebaran chuckled.

He was right.

"Welcome. I am Shura, Capricorn Knight. My tabernacle is opening before you. Tell, passerby, who are you?"

"For God's sake, you know perfectly well who are we!" Taurus rolled his eyes.

"Holy thing, tradition," said Capricorn and his cold eyes was saying that he wasn't kidding at all.

"I am Liwia, Silver Knight of Fox," the girl bowed, in accordance with the requirements of the Knighthood Code. Shura nodded approvingly.

"And I'm your uncle," Aldebaran muttered. "What, you don't recognize your uncle?"

Shura's right hand stiffened strangely.

"Come on, man, take it easy," Bull cackled with full breast and patted Capricorn on the back with amusement. Shura's legs bent like broken matches. "You'd better show our new friend your palace. She is very curious about everything."

The host seemed to be slightly more pleased and stiffly led Liwia again to the entrance to his Zodiac House. First, he was whole eternity talking about the stone from which the sculpture of Capricorn was made, then he led her to a beautifully built alcove, where he explained the meaning of each one fresco on the ceiling and almost poetically told about the statue of Athena standing there and offering the sword called Excalibur to the first Knight of Capricorn. Liwia tried to keep her mouth shut but she couldn't. She was only sixteen.

"But this is a mistake! Excalibur is the sword of the legendary King Arthur, a completely different mythology! Not Athena, but Lady of the Lake..."

She paused because the Knight of Capricorn stared at her without blinking.

"Er... hmm, how do you draw your sword, sir?"

Aldebaran burst out laughing somewhere in the back of the room. Obviously he had some witty repartee at the tip of his tongue, but Shura was faster.

"A knight you are, if form cosmo you will, your soul will awake, so the sword you know how to draw."

"I wonder if your Excalibur's blow would be stopped by my two knives," said Liwia, and began to take the armor box off her back.

"What are you doing?" Aldebaran asked anxiously.

"Just a small experiment…"

"Don't you even dare!"

"But-"

"I said: no!"

Liwia sighed and swung the chest back over her back.

"I will be honored if you ever let me test Excalibur's strength on my blades, my lord," Liwia bowed low, expecting a positive response.

Shura looked at her without blinking with his small cold eyes.

"I recommend it not really."

They were leaving when Aldebaran turned and roared.

"Oh, Milo asked me to tell you that you owe him one for betting on Castilla!"

To Liwia he cast a quiet "Run!" and jogged away from the vibrating House of Capricorn.

"A knight the most faithful to Athena?" asked Liwia.

"To Athena and principles. Consistent with his world view: it will survive; inconsistent: it will die in the fumes of pathos."

"Cold and hot at the same time, what a man," Liwia mused.

"Cold? Maybe lukewarm. Soon you will see real cold guy."

And so it was indeed. In the eleventh House of the Zodiac, so different from the rest, because built on the plan of the circle, they found Camus, the Golden Knight of Aquarius. The man got up from a table made of pure ice, left a crystal glass on it and walked slowly, scanning the girl's soul with calm eyes. She thought for a moment and said:

"Zdrastwujcie, Rycari. Mienja zawut Liwia, ja Serebrianyj Rycar Lisa. Spasiba za to, szto ja mogu wojti w wasz dworiec."

Aquarius raised his right eyebrow and gently smiled. The room temperature maybe increased by one degree, but it was still pleasantly cool.

"Not bad, but let's stay with English, in the end Aldebaran would feel hurt by this lack of attention. It could even work on him like a red rag to a bull."

"Oh, it was chilly, Camus, you don't like me."

"You have now a good reason to leave quickly or grab the bull by its horns and fight."

"You're a cold bastard, you know that?"

"Seriously?" asked Liwia disgustedly.

Aldebaran, predictably, burst out croaking, and Aquarius slightly raised the corners of his lips, so probably both reached the heights of good humor.

"Sit down," said Camus. "I'll bring you something to drink."

Liwia, who was tired of the heat outside, gladly slapped into a chair and put her hands on the ice table.

"It's not a good idea, little one. There are still fragments of the skin of your predecessors," said the Golden Knight.

The girl immediately took the limbs from the transparent, steaming slab.

"Please." Aquarius brought a squat jug and two glasses to the table. "It's just lemonade. I have nothing more."

"Chilled," Liwia whispered with delight. She drank to the bottom.

"Milo asked me to tell you-" began Aldebaran, "-that you were supposed to arrange for Mu's birthday-"

"I remember," Aquarius interrupted tiredly. "He thinks I'm a customs office?"

"Well, he knows you go to some offices, but he probably didn't go into the details," Aldebaran took a swig of water straight from the pitcher.

"That's the whole problem, isn't it?" Camus muttered and looked at Liwia. "You look smart, you can help me from time to time in the court."

"Hmm... thank you?"

"You can also come here in the hottest days. Then everyone makes sudden, unannounced visits. But don't come if you run out of ice in drink."

"Seriously? Someone bother?"

"You have no idea how many."

Aquarius followed them as far as shadow reaching his House of the Zodiac. The heat started again, but Liwia greeted it with a smile: the chill of the Aquarius Palace was great, but only for the first few moments. At the end she was getting cold.

"The last House is ahead," said Aldebaran. "It took us a bit, huh? Endless climbing."

"Sansara," murmured Liwia.

"What?"

"Sansara, or eternal journey. This is what Buddhism calls the constant repetition of the cycle of life and death by reincarnation."

"You know a lot about these Eastern topics," he looked at her suspiciously.

Liwia shrugged.

"I've just always been a nerd."

"And you were able to reconcile it with so many extracurricular activities?"

"Nerd can do it," she grinned.

"I thought you converted to Buddhism."

"Nooo. I was a Catholic in fact, but then I saw with my own eyes the souls going straight to Hades. And you know, all the rest associated with the Knights of Athena."

"Some people reconcile it somehow. Me, for example," said Aldebaran. "Apparently, all beliefs are, so to speak, true. In the far North live people who are worshiping Germanic gods from Scandinavian mythology. And these are not just superstitions."

"It's true, my country has dealt with them more than once," Liwia murmured. "So you say that one day I can meet a guy who will be the incarnation of Judas? Or that God has his angel knights who put on special angelic armor?"

"Who knows, little one, who knows?" Bull smiled. "Although they probably would not want to violate the fifth commandment."

The sun began to descend under the horizon when they saw the last Zodiac Palace. Golden rays illuminated the stone entrance.

"What smells so pretty?" Liwia asked in surprise.

"One of two. Either Aphrodite's climbing roses or his French perfume. Let's go."

The interior of the Pisces House resembled a paradise garden. All around writhed fragrant vines and ivy. Most, however, were roses in all varieties and colors. Liwia came over to one of them, leaned in and inhaled a wonderful fragrance. After a while, however, she remembered the vision of Eden that greeted her at the Palace of the Virgo and shuddered involuntarily. She quickly moved away from the flowers.

"These are completely harmless, so go ahead and admire."

The girl glanced to the right; A Golden Knight of Fish has emerged from the corridor. He obviously had a bath recently because his long hair was still a little wet and had an intense fragrance of rose oil. He was wearing a light white tunic whose trimmed with gold thread neckline revealed a piece of chest. The knight tilted his head gracefully and sparks appeared in his blue eyes.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" He approached Liwia and grabbed her chin, lifting her face and watching from every side. "Pretty one, isn't she, Taurus?"

"It will probably upset you, but we are not organizing a beauty contest, Dite," Aldebaran overcame that way.

Liwia began to get nervous: the Pisces Saint treated her like a mare at the market! She jerked her head freeing herself.

"Feisty. That's good, otherwise she won't survive here," the host muttered, then he curtsied – authentically curtsied – and said with a sly smile, combing his hair with his fingers:

"I am Aphrodite, the Golden Pisces Saint, the most beautiful knight in the world. This silver fool, Misty, doesn't hold a candle to me, you'll find out for yourself, just look at his false eyelashes. If you were a man, I would start worrying about my status, but as a woman you are safe. Just stay away from my cosmetics. And now, girl, I will show you around my garden of delights."

"This one in the palace, I hope," Aldebaran murmured, and Fish Knight only made a resonant, pearly laugh.

His Zodiac House was really beautiful. The plants grew well in wall beds, which was probably due to the openwork roof. The stone grid hung, thankfully, only above the flowerbeds, otherwise the Fish Knight would take a shower during every downpour.

"What's your name, honey?" he asked, presenting the view from the balcony. The globe could not be seen, but the landscape was breathtaking anyway. She replied.

"So, Liwia, I will tell you something from the bottom of my heart: we, beautiful ones, do not have the easiest life; jealousy is trying to touch us through weak people with a small mind and poor sense of style, so be above that, my dear. And bring all gossips," he winked.

"E..."

"Ok, I have to comb my hair properly, so go away, shoo!"

Liwia was glad to finally get some fresh air, but reality disappointed her. On the sides of the stairs leading to the Palace of the Grand Master and the Temple of Athena, were flowerpots densely sown by red roses.

"Watch out for these, little one," the Knight of the Bull pointed to all the flowers in front of them. "These are Demonic Roses, a trap for the enemies of the Sanctuary. When the enemy enters this path, the roses fall everywhere, pricking and intoxicating an unwanted guest."

"And none of those friendly people never accidentally touched the spikes? Inhaled the pollen?"

Aldebaran scratched his dark bristles.

"Well… it happened. There were various bets during boozing, you know. But that's why I warn you," he concluded in a matter-of-fact tone.

They walked in silence for some time.

"What is he like?"

"Hm?"

"The Grand Master."

"Ah. He's okay. He knows what to do, finally he has seen a lot in his life. Thanks to him, the Sanctuary came back to life. He watches over armor tournaments, follows the events in different countries so that he does not miss anything. He even introduced a training program for knights and non-knights, and thanks to him the training grounds were expanded and well equipped. Admittedly, he did not agree to a real gym, arguing that you could carry boulders as well, but there is nothing to complain about. And he watches over Athena."

Liwia raised her blue eyes at him.

"It's all true? Athena is three years old and is locked in her temple?"

Aldebaran snorted.

"She's not locked, Saintias Guardians and the Grand Master watch over her. This is the law established by Athena herself in ancient times: until her earthly incarnation reaches five years, she will not show herself to the knights. Her power must solidify in her child body before she appears to the world."

"It's a bit sad," Liwia said. "She'll only see a few faces for two more years. She doesn't know children's fun, she doesn't have peers. The words closure or prison still come to mind."

"What are you talking about?" Taurus shook his head. "You forget that this is not an ordinary girl. Anyway, you'll see for yourself in two years. You're lucky, you'll be here."

"I wonder what she looks like," Liwia mused. "You know, existing monuments do not stimulate the imagination."

"There are wagers of course, if you want you can deposit money. Deathmask collects bets."

"And you? You bet?"

"Sure. In my opinion she will be a brunette with fiery red eyes. After all, she is the goddess of war, right?"

Liwia chuckled. Somehow she always imagined Athena as a brown-haired, blue-eyed warrior woman with a proud look and a haughty attitude. She had some savings, so why not?

The roses ended as suddenly as a staircase. Liwia's mouth widened; she was staring at the huge building, which grew before her eyes. The palace was two-storey, densely surrounded by slender columns. The first floor was additionally decorated with balconies, from which, she thought, the Grand Master looked at the entire Sanctuary.

"I think it's time to don the Cloth, little one," said Aldebaran, stepping back a bit.

The girl nodded, put the denim jacket on the ground and removed the box. The metal glistened in the sun, presenting the engraved figure of a jumping fox. Liwia closed her eyes and summoned her cosmic energy. She felt a familiar warmth when the chest began to open. It was a nice feeling as if her best friend had appeared before her.

She jumped briskly and felt each piece of armor cling to her body. First the chest plate looking like karacena, which snapped on the sides to fit her torso. It was blood-red, and the plates bent under every movement. Then unsymmetrical shoulder parts – one, a spaulder, ended on the shoulder itself, the other one, a pauldron, descended in layers of plates up to the forearm; both were also blood red. Then vambraces – both crimson – and gauntlets. The right one, from the short spaulder side, was red in color, while the left one was snow-white, thanks to which, together with the long segmental pauldron and vambrace, it resembled a fox tail. The thin black rim formed a belt that crossed the breastplate at the waist. Greaves and sabatons were also black. A second rim fell on her head, this time red, with two triangular ends on both sides of her temples. And at the end on her back landed two thin long knives, her two claws, her two shoulder extensions. They snapped in metal sheaths with a quiet click, and Liwia looked proudly at Aldebaran. She finally felt worthy of this place.

"Beautiful armor," said the Golden Knight. "Very practical. Some of female knights cloths are, so to speak, extremely useless, because they are charmingly scanty. Ok, let's go to the Grand Master."

They entered the shadow of the palace. Huge portraits hung in gold frames on both sides of the inner colonnade. Strangely, they did not depict the Grand Masters over the centuries, nor were they visions of Athena. Each painting portrayed one of 88 armor managed by the Grand Master with the consent of the goddess. Liwia was turning her head to left and right so often, that her neck began to hurt, but finally she found what she wanted. Her armor looked beautiful, the shape of a fox with a downy from layers of metal tail made the right impression. The portrayed Gold Cloths made an even greater impression. Liwia admired each one because it was interesting to see them in a disembodied form (and see the Golden Armor of Gemini, Leo, Libra and Pisces at all). She involuntarily looked at the Virgo Cloth. Praying girl. Inspired, winged, facing the sky. Liwia felt some uncomfortable tightness in her stomach and looked away.

Portraits of the armors of the most powerful knights hung next to the huge white door, inlaid with pure gold. One could admire them, but Liwia was associated only with the dubious taste of Soviet aristocrats.

Aldebaran knocked on one of the gates wings and the wooden echo was carried away. He waited a moment, then pushed the door open and walked across the crimson carpet toward the throne looming at the end of the great hall. White and red curtains seemed to separate the chamber from the rest of the palace. The cold gray-green floor was polished to a high gloss and hit the eyes with reflected light. Liwia hesitantly followed Bull Saint.

The Grand Master rose from the throne. She thought he would be sitting there until the girl kneels down and swears allegiance. Meanwhile, the tall man approached them slowly and she began to distinguish his features. He had a good face, she thought. Gentle. His cosmic energy was just as gentle and warm. Violet eyes looked at her from the depths of a crimson helmet, the symbol of his office, and long light green hair fell on a navy blue, ornate robe.

Liwia fell to one knee and bowed her head in a gesture of respect.

"Welcome, Liwia, the Silver Vulpecula Saint," said the Grand Master.

"Thank you, my lord, for the honor you have given me," she said without looking up. All she saw was a dark blue robe and a flash of Aldebaran's golden greave.

"May your visit be an experience and a lerning for you, and for us: an opportunity to meet another knightly heart. Now, renew the vows you made when you first put on your armor. Do you swear to defend Athena, even at the cost of your life?"

"I swear."

"Do you swear to fight for peace and justice without dishonoring your cloth with unworthy deeds?"

"I swear."

"Do you swear allegiance to the Grand Master, head of all eighty-eight Saints of Athena and protector of the Holy Sanctuary in Greece?"

"I swear."

"Then arise, Liwia, and be our guest," the Grand Master smiled at the girl; she was slightly confused by the whole situation. "Please, tell me, what is going on in Poland. How are the moods?"

They went to one of the balconies, where all three sat in rattan armchairs. Liwia told everything she knew: about people's dissatisfaction with meat prices and the unavailability of all goods; she told about readiness to strike and the need to create independent trade unions. The Grand Master nodded and watched his interlocutor closely. Very closely.

"Forgive me," he raised his hand in an apologetic gesture. "You just remind me… someone I knew."

"And you also talked to this person about workers' protests in Poland, sir?" She gave him a fierce smile.

"No," he answered quite seriously. "About the Treaty of Three Black Eagles."

Startled, she didn't say anything when the Grand Master suddenly changed the subject.

"Aldebaran, I think it's time for you to go. You must show Liwia surroundings of the Sanctuary and her apartment. Here-" he took out a roll of paper and gave it to the girl. „This is a list of your weekly duties, just for starters, later you will know what to to do. Work with other knights, not only with the Golden ones, but, of course, treat their orders as a matter of priority. By the way: how do you find defenders of the Temple of Athena?"

Liwia hesitated for a moment, not knowing how much she would reveal.

"Positive, Grand Master. Most received me with surprisingly open and friendly way. I did not expect such a warm welcome."

"Hmm… Most?"

"Nothing to talk about, sir. I am a stranger here-"

"It's about Shaka, Grand Master," Aldebaran interrupted unexpectedly, and the older man raised his eyebrows, clearly surprised. "He's acting like a smart ass. He uses cosmo to humiliate everyone around him, excluding only his pompous students. I loyally warn you, Grand Pope, that next time there will be a fight between us two."

"And you tell me that right to my face, knight?" Grand Master's tone suddenly became sharp. "You know that the fight between the Golden Knights is forbidden. If there will be a need, I will solve the problem, you have to come to me directly with it, I am clear?"

"Yes, sir," Aldebaran murmured in displeasure and nodded at Liwia. The girl bowed in goodbye and walked after Bull. She was surprised, that they didn't go to the same side of the building as they entered.

"Did you think that the Grand Master's Chambers could only be reached through the twelve Zodiac Houses?" The giant laughed. "There's a faster way to the bottom. During the war it was constantly destroyed and in times of peace regularly repaired. That is why it is uneven, dangerous and ugly, like a nightmare. Ladies first," he pointed at the top step, almost impossible to see through the sharp rocks protruding everywhere.

And indeed, they were going down this steep descent carefully, but much faster. It was still late afternoon when they reached the foot of the Sanctuary. Bull Saint showed her practice squares and the Greek Colosseum, which was an arena during tournaments, competitions, armor fights and occasionally fair performances. Liwia also saw the so-called canteen: a building with long tables, where knights, if they wanted, ate meals together. At the end she saw a small houses, barely larger than mud huts, where each of the warriors had his own space. There was no point in comparing them to the Twelve Palaces, but in the end not everyone was the Zodiac's chosen one anointed by fate and Athena.

The Polish girl thanked Aldebaran; The Golden Knight wished her a quiet night and went away. Liwia closed the door, looked around the austere, simple interior and sat down on the hard bed. She unfolded the card she had received from the Grand Master. Trainings, patrols in Athens, supplying the Sanctuary with goods, helping the Gold in their activities, work on the expansion of training squares and participation in free lectures at one of Athens' colleges.

Liwia sighed, but after a moment a smile appeared on her face.

It was going to be interesting.

**Annotations:**

I would like to mention a few things about fanfic:

1) Maybe someone has already noticed, but I decided to change the canonical age of knights and other characters. I take this story seriously, so the characters will be more serious in age, to fit them with the problems they face. Athena, finally sixteen, is in my opinion more appropriate than a thirteen-year-old girl.

2) "Saint Seiya" not only entertained but also taught, so I also wanted to learn through a fanfic and I was often doing a research and gathrering various informations (you will not believe how much a person can learn, wanting to give Shaka some gift or let knights talk about football).

3) Fanfic will be linguistically dirty and brutal. You have been warned.

4) Music inspirations will appear from time to time. I encourage you to listen :)

5) The patron constellation of the main heroine (Vulpecula) was described by Jan Hevelius. The most common name is "Little fox" or "Little fox with goose", but the form "Fox" also appears, and it definitely suited me. And the very fact that a Polish girl has the armor of a constellation that was found in the sky by the astronomer from Gdańsk is cool for me :)

6) Some knights in this story will be called knights of constellations that do not exist in the sky (there is no such constellation as the Crystal). I stated that some of them will be commonly called in some way, although their patronage constellations will be called differently (Agora is called the Knight of the Lotus, but I made him a Knight of the Compass, because there is no such constellation as Lotos). For Liwia's master, Gerard, I got the common name of Swallow Saint, because of the color of his armor and my reference to "The Witcher" (such a constellation existed only in the Mesopotamia and this is actually one of the two Pisces. And the Wolf constellation was already occupied by Nachi ). Officially in my history Gerard will be a Knight of Lynx.

7) I added a second nationality to some of the Golden Knights, because they suited me very well, e.g. when I thought of Milo, I immediately had some Latin songs in my head, and the Pisces Saint was the quintessence of Parisian style, I couldn't leave it like that.

8) Please, comment my story, nothing more drives the writing as someone's opinion and assurance that it is not all wasted :)


	3. Rhapsody

**Rhapsody**

Dawn gilded the columns chipped by time, scattered throughout the Sanctuary. It was still early; the pleasant chill of the night hung in the air. The peace and quiet of the morning were broken by the sounds of wood hitting the wood.

"It's the new one," said Mu, handing Shaka a cup decorated with floral motifs. The blond thanked his friend and went to one of the windows of the Palace of the Aries, and all his attitude said that he was trying to interpret the sounds coming to him.

"Two training swords, senseless waving," he murmured, finally turning towards Mu. "At least, she's not destroying the pegs by metal."

"She got up early," the Tibetan picked up his cup and took a sip of the greenish brew. "I think she wants to impress. Judging from the speed of strikes, she is agile and fast."

"Another knight who will hit first and then think," Shaka snorted.

"She's young."

"Only three years younger than us. And this is no argument."

"Eh… Probably you're right. As always."

They said nothing for a long time, listening only to the irregular sounds of the beats. Suddenly it got strangely quiet. At least the Knight of the Ram heard nothing.

"She is no longer alone. They came to the Arena," said the blond, putting the teacup on an openwork table. Although he occupied a richly decorated chair, he might as well be sitting on an ordinary stool or cushion, because, straight as a string, he never uses the back.

"I smell trouble." Mu walked over to the window and although due to the location of his palace he could not see what was happening inside the walls of the Colosseum, now he could hear clearly raised voices of several people. Women's voices.

"Our girls probably don't have good intentions for Liwia," said Mu. "Today is my duty to patrol the Sanctuary, I should go there."

Shaka shrugged and looked sideways, expressing his immense lack of interest in the subject. Apparently, however, Mu sent to Virgo a telepathic message, just for spite, because the blond finally sighed, stood up and muttered:

"Waste of tea."

They were walking along a sandy slope, barely marked by any substitute stairs, badly wiped out by time. Clumps of stubborn plants pulled out a rough and hard leaves in all directions, as if leaning on the cracked earth with all their strength. The light blue sky was hurting eyes.

They arrived at what might at best be considered as entrance to the Arena, which was a chipped stone arch, and stood some distance from a large community. A lot of women in masks. And only one without.

"...do you think? That you are better than us?"

"Because I don't wear a mask? This is ridiculous!" Furious Liwia was waving wooden swords, gesturing widely.

"Ridiculous?" One of the girls stepped forward; there was a the hidden threat in her voice. Mu recognized Shaina, slightly younger than Liwia, but an extremely confident warrior, the informal leader of the other young female knights from Greece. "You won't laugh long!"

She attacked. It was an instant blow, although after verbal notice it could not be deadly fast. Liwia dodged it by half-turn and stood so as to be able to observe the movement of each of the opponents. Two other girls came out of the crowd and moved over to the Pole. The brunette did a feint, avoiding one of them and dived under the fist of the other. Three more came. A short redhead tried the kick, but Liwia caught and held her leg without even dropping the wooden sword from her left hand, then pushed her opponent's limb so that she drove the Greek woman into the sand of the arena.

The second, dark-haired, swung her open hand, wanting to hit Liwia's neck, but the girl covered herself with a training blade; the masked warrior screamed as she felt her finger bone crack in contact with the wood. The third used some cosmo to hit her in the solar plexus. The Polish woman managed to recall her energy and parry the blow, intercepting it and directing it sideways to the sandy ground. Just next to those who want to join the battle with masked warriors.

"Should I stop or will we observe a little longer?" Mu asked, watching everything from the top of the auditorium hall.

"I'm curious when she will attack," Shaka said. It is not known when he opened his eyes, but the Knight of Aries was glad that his friend had control over it and did not blow them into the air.

Meanwhile, Liwia still avoided the blows of the Greek women; she fooled them with half-turns, tumbling and feints. This couldn't last forever, of course; at some point she had to be late during fight alone against ten girls. She got in the ribs so hard that she moaned, one of girls also hit her with the cosmo energy and a trickle of blood flew from the corner of her mouth. Liwia began to get nervous. She wanted to show these stupid girls how a real blow of cosmic energy looks like, how her power looks like; she won the Armor of Fox not by a coincidence. She knew, however, that she should not attack. That she would not present her superiority over the local ones in this way. And that's because from the corner of her eye she saw a flash of gold somewhere on the upper edge of the Arena; it chilled her blood.

"Don't worry, we'll leave you finally," Shaina said, and the rest of her companions giggled.

"I'm not worried at all. I have plenty of time," Liwia said and spat out the bloody sputum.

"Are you from the Red Cross? Attack, stupid!" Shaina waved her claws, but the brunette leaned back, avoiding the blow.

"Will you... finally... go... to hell?!" she screamed and let approaching red-haired opponent stumble; girl fall to the ground. The Polish woman waved the wooden sword, making some space around her, and later she slipped behind Shaina's back. She took the blow of gloved hand on her forearms, jumped to another of the girls and took her from behind under her arms. With such a "hostage" she covered herself against the unpleasant blow of cosmo, which tore breath away from chest of this living shield. Then, after abandoning her, Liwia ran away to the side.

Very tired, she reached out a handful of sand and threw it into the faces of the oncoming opponents.

"It was a shitty idea," she muttered to herself, seeing as the sand fall from the smooth surfaces of the masks.

Shaina screamed, calling for her aggressive cosmo, but the attack did not take place.

"Enough." Mu stepped out of the shadows, and the horns of his golden armor glistened in the full sun. Each of the girls lowered their heads. Each, except Liwia and Shaina.

"Why is she to be treated differently? Why can she mock our tradition?" cried the warrior leader, turning eagerly towards the Knight of the Aries.

"Oh, for heaven's sake!" Liwia rolled her eyes so loudly that they probably heard her in Thessaloniki. "Just because I don't wear a mask doesn't mean I'm offending your customs. Although, in truth, you could finally rebel against this degrading treatment of women."

"See, Golden Saint?" Shaina pointed a finger at the brunette. "I will not stand by and listen to the insults!"

The green-haired girl raised her fist and was about to attack when she saw something that stopped her in half a stride. Another Golden Knight came out of the shadow of the stone arch. The one who is closest to the gods.

One by one, the masked girls walked away quickly without looking back. Shaina was last. She clenched her fists and said quietly to Liwia:

"Tomorrow, after sunset. On the old square. Take the armor."

She turned on her heel and walked after her friends.

Liwia looked up, shielding her eyes from the unbearable sunlight. The Virgo Knight had his eyes closed. The girl was curious whether he had seen her defensive dance.

"Fox Saint, your passivity at provocation is commendable. Now you can go back to your schedule", said Mu.

"Yes sir," she said satisfied, thinking about tomorrow's battle. This time, she'll show these mean girls what she can do.

"Let's go. Maybe the tea hasn't completely cooled down yet," Shaka muttered towards his friend and together they began to climb the ancient stairs.

* * *

The next day was endless. After morning training (in which no one interfered this time) Liwia went to the City Hall together with Camus. She flipped some fancy papers from right to left, stamped here and there and even made some wise Latin saying that made Aquarius nod his head with something like approval.

Then there was a dinner, which was brought by a Sanctuary Chef. As a Guest, she had to deliver individual meals to the Houses, if the knight did not come to the common canteen. Just for spite, Aphrodite never stooped to eating with others, so she had to climb to the top; fortunately, she was allowed to use the Shortcut, which she went on the first day with Aldebaran. Later she came to the Aquarius Palace (for Camus it was too hot outside, if there was no need, he didn't leave) and the Sagittarius Temple (because Aiolos usually didn't make it to dinner because of his activities and ate everything a bit later). Mu also consumed alone, but he was kind-hearted enough not to have her run like a waitress and he always brought food himself to the lowest House. Virgo Knight also remained. There was no doubt that the blond man would not want to eat in the surroundings of the rest of the Golden, but fortunately, he was served by his two students: the Silver Knights of Peacock and Lotos. Of course, they did not make a good impression on Liwia.

Before evening she helped clean up a piece of the training ground from debris, by the way she found out where was the "old square" that Shaina was talking about. Before the sun set over the horizon, she returned to her small house, washed herself, tied black hair and put on Fox Armor. She had some concerns: in the end it was forbidden to use the power of cloths for private purposes, and she would prefer not to get expelled from Sanctuary for such a triviality. On the other hand, if she does not appear in the duel, she will dishonor her name and there was no such option. If they catch her, she will begin to confabulate: that she wanted to try the new attack or that today in Poland they are celebrating Knight's Day so she tried to commemorate it. Eh, she will be ok.

The stars shone as intensely as they could shine away from the glow of civilization. Liwia looked for her patron constellation and smiled slightly. "Okay, here goes nothing!". She was already close to the meeting point when she began to feel some indefinite anxiety. Something was wrong. It was definitely too loud. Did this bitch bring the entire garrison of her backers again? She will soon find out.

When she came out from behind the great ruin, which was once an armory, she saw the cause of her anxiety. Around the square were all Golden Knights, several Silver Knights and a group of temple non-knightly forces. "I'm in deep shit," she thought and headed toward the center of the square with no choice.

"It's our challenge one!" Aldebaran boomed and pointed to the empty space in the middle of the concourse. "Welcome, welcome."

Liwia gulped in fear of what they would tell her.

"Don't worry so much, everyone new in the Sanctuary goes through it," Milo laughed. "If you didn't mess with our Shaina, we would organize something anyway, so you would present your skills. Everything's fine," he finished, raising his thumb.

The girl felt relief and gratitude to the Scorpio Knight. "So they won't kick me out," she thought.

Shaina crossed the crowd line and stood in a combat pose. She was wearing a Silver Armor of Ophiuchus, glistening in the torchlight with a dark purple glow. The crowd began to clap rhythmically, the Golden Knights, standing in relative concentration, seemed to be pillars of light in the darkness of the night. Liwia saw that no one but the Gemini, Leo and Libra Saints was missing. Even haughty Shaka came. Despite the closed eyes, she had the impression that the man was looking right through her.

She couldn't afford to fail and she couldn't be like any other knight invited to the Sanctuary. She had to give a good show. And she liked shows.

"Aldebaran!" she suddenly turned to the Bull, stopping Shaina who was ready to attack. "I heard that today you picked up your turntable from repair."

"That's right," answered the Golden Knight, closely watching the girl. "And?"

"Would you be so kind and let me use it? What is fight that takes place in silence?"

Virgo's Knight snorted in contempt.

"What a impudence... I like it!" Aphrodite clapped his hands before anyone could object.

"We do not have time for such games now, get started." Camus leaned against some worn-out pillar; he was looking very bored.

"We have enough time, let us have some fun," Scorpion poked Aquarius with a smile. "I can even run for this turntable, Al."

"Okay, I will bring it, also take the vinyl records, because this is not a hurdy-gurdy." Bull has already taken two steps towards the Palaces, when gramophone and several vinyl discs appeared in front of him.

"There is no need to run," Mu said stoically, lowering the level of his cosmo.

"A farce this is, or a test of skill?" Capricorn asked irritably.

"Farce, apparently," Shaina said, clenching her fists. "It won't help you, foreigner, you'll find out soon!"

"Maybe," Liwia said with a smile. "Or maybe not. Where are those companions of yours? Give them here."

"What?"

"Liwia, don't pretend to be a hero," Aldebaran began to set the turntable on a rock block, and Milo pulled some extension cord from the canteen. "One-on-one duel, that's how it always goes."

"I disagree," the Polish girl, to the consternation of everyone around, began to look at the faces lit by torches. "Where are those who attacked me yesterday? Come out!"

"Are you kidding me? You want to fight with all ten?" Shaina was clearly furious. "Do you think I'm not enough for you?"

"I was insulted by you and I demand satisfaction," said the Polish woman and noise passed over the crowd.

"If it's a matter of honor, so be it," Aiolos said, shrugging.

"Are you crazy? It won't be a fair fight!" Aldebaran puffed up.

"It's all right, trust me," Liwia gave Bull a reassuring smile. She knew her capabilities. What's more: after yesterday's morning battle, she also knew the capabilities of opponents.

Brazilian sighed loudly.

"Well, let it be. Shaina, gather your companions," he gave the order.

The green-haired girl growled, dissatisfied, but waved urgently towards the crowd. Some not very willingly, others quite the opposite: female knights and novices without armor appeared slowly before the Pole.

"Any special wishes?" asked Taurus, pointing to the black vinyl discs.

"Run a Rhapsody, if you have it," Liwia grinned. Aldebaran just nodded in a gesture that could mean "this performance will end badly."

Greek warriors lined up in a semi-circle, waiting for some indefinite signal to attack. Liwia grabbed the handles of the long knives, protruding from the back and then something clicked. Blades left the armor, still stuck in the scabbards.

"I guess something does not work out, stupid," Shaina scoffed, pointing to the secured weapons.

"On the contrary," the Polish girl replied with a smile, and the first bars of Bohemian Rhapsody flew into the ether. "I do not expose my Claws if I don't want to kill."

"Your loss."

The masked girls lunged at her, regardless of the slow tempo of the song's beginning. Liwia, however, deftly parried the blows, some of them even let go sideways. The Greek women turned, expecting immediate counterattack, but found foreign girl calmly swaying to the rhythm of the music.

"Do you even can fight?" Shaina tilted her head in disbelief looking at the Pole who was clearly having fun.

They attacked again, this time one after another. Liwia, however, was faster and raising guard on time. She even made dance moves while leaning back against fists and kicks.

She was wearing her armor. And she knew who was she facing.

"Why is she still defending herself?" Aiolos asked confusedly. The crowd around the square began to hum.

"Fight she can't," Capricorn snorted; he stood stiff as a starched shirt.

"She's probably just playing," Milo said, though there was a hint of uncertainty in his voice. Scorpio hoped that the Polish girl would show off fencing skills, but somehow it did not seem.

"Maybe she thinks we're here for entertainment, instead of taking it as a test," said Camus.

"And that's what I like," Deathmask joined the conversation; he extinguished the cigarette butt on the Corinthian decorations of the ancient pillar. The Knight of Pisces has long gone to the other side, unable to stand the cigarette smoke.

"Maybe I should explain her an outline of a similar duel," Aldebaran worried, and was about to get up when Shaka's cold voice settled him in his seat.

"You look and yet you can't see."

Although he said it just louder enough not to be drowned out by the Oueen's song, all the faces of the Gold turned as once. Some of them heard the blonde probably for the first time in their lives.

"So explain it to us, enlightened one," sneered Taurus, unable to resist. "Tell me, what your closed eyelids saw?"

Shaka didn't show whether he felt offended.

"Nothing special. She mislead opponents: it pretends to be a foolish fun, but she closely observes their fighting styles. She has already worked it out, I suppose, and will immediately knock down each of them. I just don't know what she is waiting for," he winced, as if the spectacle had derogated from his notion of fight.

"But I know," Aldebaran mumbled, waiting for this amazing moment in the song when it transforms from a slow ballad into a theatrical play and then into an epic crack.

And indeed. _Scaramouch, scaramouch_... resonated in the air and Liwia started jumping like a bullfighter. Greek girls were stunned. The Deathmask laughed and began to pat on the thigh. Shura raised an eyebrow so high that it disappeared under the helmet.

At _Galileo_, the Polish girl waved her knives until she made more space.

"Now it will begin," Aldebaran said, and the whole audience of this strange performance leaned forward, waiting.

Liwia focused her cosmo. She waved her right hand at the sand, just below the feet of half masked opponents.

_Bismillah!_

Bam! Flames shot into the air and the girls jumped back with fear. Two began to extinguish smoldering pants in panic.

_Bismillah!_

A lance of fire also flew from the left hand and the other half of the Greeks was struck by sudden glare and heat.

_Bismillah!_

Liwia widened the line of the fiery border so that she separated herself and Shaina from the other warriors. The green-haired girl looked back, clenched her fists, then turned and began to run to the Polish girl. Liwia smirked, raised the right knife like a swordsman to the height of her face and a moment later charged to Shaina, who was surprised by her activity.

_No, no, no, no, no, no, no_ – with every no, the masked woman received blows of a deadly fast knife. Only thanks to the sheath they were not deadly sharp either. A blow to the chest, arm, knee, armpit, in thigh, wrist and finally the diaphragm – Shaina folded like a penknife and fell on her knees on the sand.

Liwia, still with a devilish smile, slowly deflected her arms, extinguishing the fires caused earlier; suffocating from the smoke, the friends of the green-haired warrior came closer to the center of the square and when they saw their leader lying on the ground, they ran forward with wild cries.

_...for me..._

The Pole began to walk to meet them.

_...for me..._

She made the grinder with the right knife.

_For me!_

She knocked the first to the side, in a place not covered with armor. The ribs bursted. The second, brown hair, the one whose finger had broken the previous day, struck the bandaged hand with the handle of the weapon and left moaning behind. Liwia put her leg down to the third one – the impetus was enough for the girl to fall on her face. The knife handle fell on her skull and the girl lost consciousness. Liwia dived under the arm of the fourth, just as she did yesterday morning, but this time she grabbed her wrist and threw her opponent over her back; the girl fell on the sand so hard that it took her breath. The amphibian of the blade hit her in the stomach, a scream sounded in the air.

The fifth, the short redhead, tried her kick again; Liwia waved her left hand, and the metal sheath rang in the air and dropped with an unpleasant click on the fibula bone. The sixth girl, with curly hair, came with a cosmic energy attack aimed at the solar plexus. Liwia made a quick half-turn while capturing this power and threw it at the seventh opponent attacking from the flank. She got a blow to the teeth and froze in the arena. Liwia grabbed the offender's curly hair and jerked them mercilessly, hitting the woman's head against the ground. Eight and ninth attacked simultaneously. The Polish girl slid under the cosmo loads, then grabbed the ankle of one and of the other girl. They managed to look down when their shoes started to burn.

It was a rout. All opponents were no longer able to fight: they lay side by side, squeezing the wounded places or wandering the lands of unconsciousness. Only Shaina gathered herself and shouted:

"Thunder Claw!"

Liwia threw a knife in front of her, which took over all the electric charge; the lightning tanned the scabbard so much that it covered by lampblack. The very power of the blow struck Liwia on the shoulder and blood flowed from under her armor. The Polish girl began to laugh and walked slightly at the opponent. The melody slowed again as the girls circled. Finally, seeing green-haired gathering strength for the next attack, Liwia jumped out first:

"Dance of Fire!"

It seemed as if flames formed the shape of a fox with a long fiery tail and rushed to meet the wounded Shaina. Then exploded with accumulated energy and heat. Green-haired girl screamed; blow threw her so hard that she flew straight into Shura's arms. The knight gripped her shoulders and held her so that she would not fall at his feet.

Liwia, exactly in the last bars of the song, turned to the Golden Knights and made a deep, blatant theatrical bow.

Single applause broke the silence. The Polish girl looked straight ahead. The Deathmask grinned and clapped, content from the performance. Shura had an impenetrable expression on his face, as did Mu. The Pisces Saint nodded his head approvingly and whispered something to Camus. Milo whistled and joined with applause, while Aiolos jumped into the arena, patted Liwia on the shoulder and went to see how the defeated girls were holding.

"Something like that," said smiling Aldebaran, while he was removing the disc from the adapter," we won't forget for a long time. Well done, girl."

"That was my goal," Liwia thought with satisfaction, wiping blood from shoulder.

She was confused that she couldn't see the Virgo Knight anywhere.

"He was almost to the end," Bull said when she came over and asked him quietly. "Basically, he was the only one who guessed what you would do. But why do you care?"

"I don't know," she replied quite honestly and returned to the center of the arena.

She came to Shaina, who was helping her friends to gather from the ground and held out her hand.

"You fight well, Shaina. Don't hold the resentment, I'll forget about that grudge too. Fine?"

Maybe there would be fine, but in the movies only.

Green-haired girl rejected her hand with hatred.

"You'll regret meeting us," she hissed.

"I regret it already," Liwia replied and slowly walked away towards her apartment.

The stars shone silvery and beautiful.


	4. Camellia sinensis

_**Camellia sinensis**_

"I'll take two. You draw?"

"No, I have everything I want."

"Yeah, you're making it up, such a bluff is not for me."

"You'll find out soon enough. Turn out the cards."

Liwia spread the cards on the bench. She had a happy face: she managed to collect a Full House from two jacks and three eights. Mask raised his eyebrows and whistled in admiration. The girl's good humor broke, like a crystal vase from her aunt's collection, which she once crash in rebellion against vacuuming a similar trinket hundredths a week. The Cancer Saint still nodded in mock appreciation.

"Okay, brag about it," she muttered.

The man threw the cards on the table. Quads.

"I told you it doesn't make sense, how do you think he got the money for his leather jacket?" Milo, who folded some time ago, stretched to the bone creak.

The Polish girl looked very trod-upon, seeing Mask picking up all the money from the center of the table. He brazenly smiled, chewing on the same match for an hour.

"Maybe a rematch?" he asked innocently, but Liwia just waved her hand. She wasn't going to lose all her savings and she noticed Camus, calmly descending from the last steps in front of the Aries Temple. Today she was supposed to have a patrol on the outskirts of Athens with him. She got up from the bench, stretched her folded blouse with her hands and walked over to the Aquarius. But he shook his head.

"I can't. I have a lot of work left in court, I did not finish it yesterday."

"Free afternoon, awesome!", she thought, trying to control her smile.

"I asked Shaka for a replacement. He agreed. He should be here soon," said Aquarius and started his way, leaving Liwia with her mouth half open in protest.

Indeed, the Virgo Saint appeared soon on the horizon. Long blond hair waved behind him like a golden cape.

"If you want, I can tell him that I need you today to help me train my soldiers," Milo whispered in her ear. Somehow all the Gold knew what had happened on her first day at the Sanctuary. Aldebaran probably wasn't the best at keeping his mouth shut.

"Thanks, but I'm not here on vacation, I have no right to be choosy. Besides, it had to happen eventually," she replied, walking towards the coming knight. Blond said nothing; his eyes were closed, so she had to convince herself that he was aware of her presence.

The day was hot as usual. Or even hotter than usual. The girl slowly began to get used to the local temperatures, nevertheless she regretted that she was not accompanied by the cold aura of Aquarius that day. Instead of a pleasant chill, she was dealing with an incense scent that the Virgo was unfolding around him. In other situation, this fragrance could be intriguing, but now she felt a little overwhelmed. Fortunately, the Cloths were not mere piles of iron, otherwise Liwia would have lost strength in this stifling heat long ago.

They walked through the Athenian outskirts, further and further away from the stony slopes of the Sanctuary. Somewhere in front of them stretched forests and in them scattered the houses of the poorer inhabitants of the city. There was peace and quiet, quite disturbing for the capital of the Southerners.

"I have a feeling that something is wrong," she murmured, looking at her companion. Shaka gave no indication that he had acknowledged it, he was walking at a steady pace and was extremely dignified. To Liwia it even seemed that the knight wasn't touching the ground. Nothing but to throw rose petals and bow before him.

They reached the first buildings. Decaying walls, neglected courtyards, a shadow of trees crowns and an echo of a barking dog tied to a chain. Nothing else.

"Where have everyone gone?" Liwia was turning her head to the left and right, but the area looked deserted. Shaka, still statuesquely calm, entered one of the courtyards that surrounded the ruined two-story house. The tied dog growled, then jumped, preparing to attack the intruder. In a split second dog fell to the ground, whimpering quietly and retreated to the shack on low legs. Liwia did not sense even a little cosmo, the Virgo Knight just passed the animal and disappeared behind the ajar door of the house.

"I wonder what happens when he's in a bad mood. Galaxies are disappearing?", she thought, following him. She pushed the door open and entered the dark, dirty vestibule. Dirty with blood stains.

Liwia was a knight, a Silver Knight, but she was only sixteen. Until now she did not know the smell of death, did not see her cruelty to the body. She grabbed her stomach and closed her eyes, praying that she would not vomit.

Torn bodies. Whole family.

Shaka stood a moment, then turned back, passed Liwia in the passage and left the building. The girl ran after him, gasping for air.

They passed another quiet courtyard. The Pole glanced furtively at her companion, but he didn't look like he wanted to go there. She really didn't want to check the house, but her conscience won; she had to make sure. She took the first few steps when she heard:

"No point to go there. They are dead," he said to her for the first time.

Whether he knew it through sensitive hearing or because of his unique powers, she took his word for it. They went further.

"The marks were fresh," she finally said, swallowing hard. "The killers can't be far away."

He didn't even answer, just nodded towards one of the houses on the hill. Liwia focused her eyes. A few dark silhouettes. The hammer's steady knocking against wood also reached her ears.

"Quick!" Liwia shouted and without looking at the Golden Knight she ran towards the group of villains. Adrenaline sang in her veins and she felt a fiery cosmo rising inside her. She knew it wasn't too late, at least not for the inhabitants of the last of the surrounding houses.

They finally spotted her. She heard laughter, which was probably a reaction to her armor, and after a while a group of men turned to her with guns and knives. The latter were stained with blood. Two of the oppressors were boarding up the front door of the house, from which screams and pleading were coming. One of the men looking at the girl said something to his companion and together they burst out laughing. Liwia did not speak Greek well, but she thought that he was talking something about a masked ball.

"Move away from the door or I cannot vouch for your safety," she snarled and reached for her long knives, which silently slid from the scabbards on her back.

"Oh, a weirdo is threatening us!" The bandit apparently knew English well enough to go into a discourse with Liwia. "And what will you do, little girl, stab me with your false blades? Call for your buddies from a fantasy convention? Other Dungeons & Dragons players?" he chuckled.

"Soon you'll find out," she hissed and was about to launch the attack when two of the criminals, ignoring her arrival, finished killing the door with boards and took the lighters out of their pockets. They picked up some bottles off the ground and set fire to the rags sticking out of their necks.

"No!" Liwia shouted and attacked these men. The gang leader and some of his henchmen fired at her. If she were an ordinary girl, she would already be dead. But she was a knight.

She ran like an arrow, avoiding bullets and outstretched blades of spring knives. Only the two at the door counted for her, she didn't waste time on the rest. She already got them, one whined because of the blow of her blade when the worst happened: the other thug managed to throw a Molotov cocktail through a broken window. Screams of terrified people came from the building.

Liwia hit with her Claw the one who threw the bottle and when he bent in pain she jumped on his back, bounced off them and fell with her whole body on the window glass. Before she flew to the other side of the wall into the interior of the fire-heated house, she felt a bullet from a gun pass through her thigh. She fell off the wooden frame and disappeared in flames.

"What was that?" asked the gang leader, scratching his chin. Nobody paid attention to the moaning two at the door. "Sprinter or something? How did she avoid the bullets?"

"Does it matter?" replied another murderer. "Stupid girl went to fry."

They chuckled in agreement, staring at the fire and the thick smoke from the broken window. They slowly began to move away from the building when they looked back worriedly.

The door flew out with the force of a missile, crushing those two men standing on their trajectory. Liwia emerged from a cloud of smoke and throw a young woman and her son onto the grass. After a while, she also pulled out the unconscious father of the family, grabbing him by the hand covered in soot. She fell to the ground, breathing heavily. Pants, peeking out from under the right greave, were burgundy of blood.

The leader of group had eyes the size of saucers.

"How did she do it?" he muttered to the rest of his people. Liwia didn't understand, besides she was busy trying to get to her feet. She heard the sound of reloading weapons.

"Um, boss?" one of the thugs said in a high-pitched voice, patting the group leader on the shoulder and pointing at something. "One of her convention buddy goes there."

The Polish girl finally stood up and spread her hands, gathering cosmo; she was ready to defend the inhabitants of the house to the death. She froze, however, watching the same thing her opponents were. The end of Shaka's slow walk.

"Blind man", she understood so much from what the leader said and the rest she did not have to translate: the men aimed the guns at the blonde, wanting to get rid of the intruder as soon as possible. The other part of the group, those with knives, turned to Liwia and the family. However, Pole completely ignored them, also muted from the subconscious the screams of horror of the mother and her son. She only looked at the Virgo Saint. The pistols fired and it was the last element that the villains registered with their common senses.

Five of them suddenly bent in half and their ribs slammed unpleasantly. Hands of the two cutters standing close to Liwia, suddenly exploded; a shower of fingers spread sideways. The hand of the leader twisted at an unnatural angle; the gun fell deaf to the ground. Immediately afterwards the man began to howl mournfully, holding his head. From the stream of his feverish speech, Liwia distinguished only the word "demons." Five with broken ribs were blown out by supernatural force into the air. When they fell back to the ground, their two buddies with mutilated hands began to run around their axis, like a spinning-wheels. Guns bullets stuck in the bark of the nearest tree.

It was over; it did not last longer than a deep breath. Virgo's Knight was still walking calmly toward her. The girl realized that he was focusing on something. She turned her head to find that the mother and her son were silently looking at the battlefield, then at the approaching blonde. They were on the verge of a panic attack.

The man raised his hands as if to pray and almost whispered:

"Tenbu Hōrin."

The woman and the child fell unconsciously to the ground.

"What did you do to them?" Liwia was so shocked by everything she had just witnessed that she had forgotten about the fire raging behind her.

"I temporarily took their senses," he said, then passed her, murmured "Kan" briefly and entered the building shrouded in flames and smoke. He was gone for a moment, but when he returned, not even one hair from his head was twisted by temperature.

"Move them away," he said over his shoulder. After the first step Liwia remembered that she got in the leg. She almost fell, putting her weight on it. However, she managed to push the unconscious family a little further away from the burning building. She tried not to pay attention to the bloodied, demented thugs.

The blond man sat down cross-legged and began to accumulate power. It didn't cost him a lot of effort, because after a while cosmo hit the precisely selected points of the house, the roof crushed the broken walls and suppressed the raging fire. After the conflagration only black thick smoke remained.

Shaka stood up, by movement of his hand he undone the charm cast on mother and the child and began his leisurely journey back to the Sanctuary.

"Call the services and settle the matter," he said quietly to Liwia. The wind blew his golden hair.

"And how I supposed to do that?" she asked, pointing at her leg.

"It didn't hit the artery. You are a knight, you can handle it," he muttered and walked towards the setting sun.

* * *

Liwia always wondered why the countries in which knights were trained, in which the armors of Athena's warriors were located do not hire them to protect national interests, to remove enemies, to escort the establishment. She wondered what the authorities were gaining by agreeing to a trip like her to the Sanctuary in Greece. As she learned from the head of a tiny hospital on the outskirts of Athens – nothing but an unrealized threat. Who threatened and by what, the doctor did not know, but all countries accepted the law and only sometimes there were persuasions, bribery, playing on emotions to keep someone so talented in their homeland and try to use in some way. Liwia could even guess, where such abuses happened. Nobody bothered her when she was leaving her homeland, but all the formalities were handled by her master.

Unique hospital, in which she was, had an exceptional senior consultant. The gray-haired gentleman not only ran a clinic especially for the knights of Athena, he not only knew perfectly well what a cosmo charge aimed at an opponent could do, but also sensationally cooperated with certain special and order security units, which, unlike ordinary police, did not delve into the topic of armor and supernatural power. And he chatted like crazy. About ancient times, about Athena, about constellations, about the cases he had in the ward, about the durability of three types of Cloths, about his acquaintance with the Grand Master and his collector's passion, which was gathering personal items of knights. Liwia promised him a folk shawl with traditional Łowicz patterns, which she sometimes wore on a short skirt. This last, of course, she didn't tell him. So when she got this way in his good graces, she managed to convince the head physician to release her to the Sanctuary the same day, despite the stitched leg and stupefaction by a large dose of painkillers.

After all, she just wanted to go back to her little hut. She felt like she'd come out of an extremely tedious movie screening: for hours she told investigators the same thing, though they were magically convinced that in fifty-fifths he would say more, that she would slip out something that would shed light on crimes, on motives, on probable course of events. Even before she explained that she hadn't mutilated and drove a dozen bandits crazy (two to eight is a modest statistic), criminal policemen thanked her with a rigid handshake and proposed a prize from the city. She couldn't believe it: in every normal country they would put her behind bars. However, despite the many tiring hours, despite the stitches on her thigh and mental exhaustion through all the dramatic, bloody scenes of today, she wanted to return to the Sanctuary as soon as possible. That HE would see she could handle it. That she is a full-fledged knight.

The head physician agreed only on the condition of a taxi ride to the very house, but the girl asked the driver for a slightly earlier, less embarrassing stop. It was long after dark when she stood at the door of her small house. A small house which was besieged by the concerned Aldebaran and Milo.

"He's dead," said Taurus as soon as he glanced at Liwia's bandaged leg.

Bull began to making a giant steps towards the zodiacal stairs.

"Wait, wait, wait! It's not like that, he really saved the situation," she said, surprised with her own words. Stockholm Syndrome, that's what. "He didn't leave me with anything I couldn't handle."

"But he could not leave you at all!" the giant growled, though it was obvious that he had calmed down a bit.

"There's no point in getting into quarrels, you know that the Grand Master would not be happy," Milo added and grinned. "Liwia, don't you want to go to Mu for a tea? I don't know what's in them, but you will definitely relax after everything you saw."

All she really wanted was to lie down but the macabre of dead houses was still appearing in front of her eyes. Melissa forte or she will not sleep a single second.

"Lead the way," she smiled faintly at Milo and the Scorpion took her arm, as if instead of her soot and bloodstained rags she was wearing a ball gown.

Aldebaran sighed, said goodbye and went to his room. It was past midnight.

"Do you think Mu's still awake? I always thought he was rather of those early risers."

"That's true," said Milo. "But when I was going down, he was still discussing something with Shiva and Agora."

Liwia stopped immediately.

"Oh no, no, no. I'm not going there. I don't have the slightest desire to be in their company."

"I know Shaka's students are, how to say it, um, original, but they aren't that bad, huh?" Scorpion asked, with gesture trying to make her walk again.

"Aren't they?" Liwia shook her head. "Shiva shits higher than his ass is and Agora uses such an irritatingly patronizing tone as if he were my grandfather, not a peer. I have been in the Sanctuary for two months, and they have criticized my way of fighting, the appearance of my armor, my manners and, I will quote here, "the lack of any spirituality in this flat, deprived of wisdom, depth of science and purpose existence."

"Oh, you don't have to bother with that," Milo as always downplayed everything. "You won't hide your head in the sand through two appendages, won't you? They are Silver Knights, like you, so you are equal. Besides, I'm coming too. They will not dare to be arrogant in front of two Golden Knights."

Milo was so wrong.

"_Camellia sinensis_, thank you, the master will be glad," said Agora, gratefully accepting the parcel from Mu's hands.

"_Camellia sinensis_, Goddamn it, he couldn't just say Chinese tea, it's too common," Liwia snorted in her thoughts.

Shiva saw them coming.

"Sir." The boy bowed his head slightly in front of Milo, and then he looked at the Pole. "We heard that meeting with death terrified you, Liwia, Silver Knight of the Fox. Quite late learning like for a warrior of Athena, for someone, who has sworn to devote his life in her defense. If you, like us, Shaka's disciples, had previously understood that death is inevitable for all beings and that this is an unavoidable stage in the eternal journey of living, you would free your mind from fears and instead of being afraid, you would find confirmation in all of Buddha's words. But well, you were not lucky enough to find such an enlightened master as Shaka, it's not your fault. "

"Has this yokel just offended my master, Gerard, the Silver Swallow Knight?" she growled, squeezing her fingers into twitching fists. Milo put a hand on her shoulder, but took it away in a moment. The metal burned the skin.

"Calm down," Mu ordered them, approaching the arrivals. "What did you come to me with?"

The girl was busy sending to Shiva murderous glances, so it was Scorpio who asked him for some relaxing brew. A strong relaxing brew.

"It will take a while," muttered the Knight of the Ram, eloquently looking at Shaka's students.

"Thank you again, sir." Agora bowed and began moving away from the Golden Knight with Shiva. After all, they had to say a few words when they got very close to the girl.

"Pathetic armor," Shiva whispered in her ear.

"Did you take your mother's clothes?" Liwia bit back.

"Don't pay attention to her, Shiva, it's not worth it," Agora said quietly to his friend.

"Yeah, and you have a nose like a potato and it is the one you want to recoil from a bag," she said after the Lotus Saint. He pretended not to hear anything and began to drown her out with the mantra _on abokya beiroshanō makabodara mani handoma jimbara harabaritaya un… _Finally they disappeared around the corner.

Milo was having fun, but Mu sighed loudly and gestured for them to sit down. They were in a primitive kitchen, being more like an ancient alchemist's laboratory, than a place to prepare meals. Still, it was quite cozy, and the smells of herbs pleasantly stimulated the senses.

"Do you have any weed?" the Scorpion asked curiously, but instead of answer he got a disapproving look.

"He's amazing," Liwia said thoughtfully.

"Sure I am!" Milo laughed. "I'm glad that you s... you didn't talk about me, huh?"

"She meant Shaka," said Mu. Aptly.

"He... just walked. I understand that they were not knights, but ordinary criminals, still: he should at least stop, articulate the attack, I don't know, wave his hand! But he just made a walk!"

"He is a Gold Saint, you expected him to waste time on simple opponents?" Mu boiled some ragged leaves lying at the bottom of a large cup.

Liwia shook her head.

"No. But his deadly calmness... is terrifying and attractive at the same time. The point is-" she added quickly, seeing their faces "-that he appears to be an arrogant half-god, but he also shows that unwavering faith, strictness in rules and monks asceticism. Damn, I don't know if walking so slowly towards the burning house he really didn't care, because, as his students said, dying is a natural, inevitable course of things, or maybe he put me to the test, maybe he gave the fate of the poor family into the hands of an inexperienced teenager which, damn, I admit it, I am. Or maybe during a leisurely walk he accumulated his cosmo, which I did not feel in some way?"

Mu laughed and handed the girl a cup of hot drink. Bitter fumes filled the kitchen air.

"Shaka is like one of the varieties of Chinese tea, the one that I gave to Agora. Its name is Tieguanyin, or the Iron Goddess of Mercy. It is said that only those truly virtuous will appreciate its unique, strong taste, for the rest it will be an indigestible brew. I wasn't there with you, but one thing is certain: Shaka did not have to accumulate cosmo to dispose of a few thugs who were not knights. He is a powerful and difficult man. Such power and such bitterness are often avoided."

"So, apparently, there is something wrong with Aldebaran's virtue," said Milo and Liwia laughed.

The girl drank tea, then instructed by Mu to go to bed immediately after coming to her hut, she began to gather to leave. Milo walked her to the door and, somehow strangely thoughtful, began climbing towards the eighth House of the Zodiac. Liwia only managed to fall on her squeaky, rattled bed and immediately drifted into the thick darkness of unconsciousness. Without any dreams.


	5. Sun and fire

**Sun and fire**

The days passed at an evenly accelerated pace – the routine of life in the Sanctuary was able to blend them together, though Liwia could not complain of boredom. She felt good here. Usually. Despite several subsequent attempts to improve relations with female knights, girl suffered a terrible defeat, so she was sentenced mainly to the company of the Golden. She adored them, each of them separately, and with considerable joy she observed that many of them had become completely accustomed to her presence, as if she was a permanent element of the Sanctuary landscape. Only in the evenings when she was finishing her duties she was feeling overwhelming loneliness. Just then groups of friends conquered Athenian clubs or fooled around in the streets of Rodorio, muffled by the dense silence of the night. She celebrated the twilight by learning Greek words or washing clothes in tin wash-tub. Or writing letters.

From time to time she was receiving messages from Janek, Silver Shield Knight, and her aunt contacted her regularly. Liwia, moreover, used her relative to import a variety of items. As their name still meant something, her mother's sister had access to foreign products that many could dream of. Including some Golden Knights. The girl did not want them to treat it as buy-in, but she hoped they will see in the gifts appreciation for their hospitality, for letting her into their elite zodiacal Houses, for shared meals, conversations and for fulfilling duties together. Therefore, on each of their birthday she was preparing small gifts, something they couldn't get easily on the Athens market.

First gift went to Deathmask, when he celebrated his birthday on July 24. He got from Liwia an Italian cookbook, which turned out to be a great idea. Thanks to this, the smell of baked pizza or aromatic spaghetti came from the canteen from time to time. During this birthday, the girl also understood what such events of the Golden Knights look like: some appear for a moment to wish a happy birthday (Mu, Aiolos), some stay to the end, discussing fiercely, singing and drinking the leftovers from already warm bottles (Aphrodite, Mask, Aldebaran, Milo), another group stays for a long time, yes, but not participates in games, rather appreciating the dark corners and getting drunk sadly (Camus, Shura) and finally there are also those who don't come at all because they either get lost somewhere (Saga), either they live far away (Old Master), or simply do not like such a celebration (Shaka).

The pattern repeated more or less on subsequent occasions, as clearly showed Aiolia's birthday, that's the Golden Lion's birthday, who was recently elected to hold the last vacancy in the ranks of the Sanctuary elite. Aiolia was exactly what Liwia had imagined him; after seeing Aiolos and hearing a few sentences from Aldebaran, she was expecting a young man with brown hair, the first to act and also the first to talk. He also met the expectations for a slob: whenever a girl was passing through the fifth Zodiac House, sweaty t-shirts, baklawa packaging or cardboard boxes of unspecified purpose were everywhere.

Everyone thought that as her peer he would become Liwia's best friend, if not her boyfriend right away, but the Pole would only laugh at the thought. She liked Aiolia, but mentally he was still a child. Her aunt used to say that the age of a guys should be reduced at least by one-third, if you want to get the answer, how mature they are. In the case of the Leo Saint it worked quite well, and the result – well – did not make an impression.

In mid-August, the boy organized a birthday party. At least in name it was a party, because Mask and several other Golds wanted both honor his birthday and officially (read: boisterously) accept him in their ranks. Aiolos didn't have much choice this time, so he planned to stay until the end, just to watch over his younger brother. But the plan failed, because Sagittarius, who took responsibilities for too many things, was lefting the gathered people from time to time, circling all night between the Sanctuary and Rodorio. In these gaps, the gentlemen got drunk terribly, managed to race up the stairs, Aphrodite began to dance on the table to the rhythm of Milo's knocking drums on the back of Golden Taurus Cloth (until he hit one of its horns) and Aldebaran with Mask were yelling like a demons, plotting intricate diagrams and arrows in a futile attempt to figure out which player has botched in the last match they watched.

Camus traditionally sat in the corner with a crystal glass in his hand, but was suddenly attacked by Shura, who came too late and did not have time to drink culturally, which made his fiery nature prevail. Liwia didn't remember what the argument was about, especially since she was already lightly buzzed, because she stupidly sat next to the lonely Aquarius (maybe her Slavic strong head impressed the rest, but with a half-Russian she was only a weak player – he was drinking as if he was still in Siberia). There was a commotion, Shura threw the Excalibur towards Camus, who deflected the blow with a simple wave, and snowflakes fell from his hands. Capricorn, however, persisted and after a while Liwia had to evacuate from the corner, slipping under cosmo blows, as under artillery fire from German Sturmtiger. The cut strands of Camus's hair were carried away by the wind, and Aquarius, instead of getting pissed off properly, frowned, calmed down, intensified peace, as if it was still possible; it's a miracle that a black hole did not form. In the end, however, Aldebaran grabbed Shura by the collar, picked up like a puppy and shouted that he doesn't give a shit, he wouldn't watch them beating for a thousand days and, anyway, it would be his fault that the Grand Master would come here soon. Shura, as if they had changed him for someone else, visibly dejected, solemnly swore not to start the brawl, then apologized to Camus and patted him like his own brother. However, two beautifully decorated pillars were to be exchanged with the stonemason. And Aiolia learned how to puke properly, an instant course, but he passed with the certificate.

That was the way it was, and Liwia ceased to be surprised that Camus was already getting vodka for Mu's March birthday – at this rate, stocks went down extremely quickly. She wanted to add her own contribution, but she had no idea how to ask her aunt to send a few Polish vodkas to the Sanctuary, even taken on food stamp. The intention died.

The beginning of autumn came and the birthday of another knight appeared on the horizon. But, first of all: about the fact that Shaka has birthday on September 19 (the very fact that he was born once burst the brain!) Liwia and other knights learned accidentally from Mu and Aries probably wasn't really pleased after his slip, therefore it could have been assumed that the celebration of a birthday or anything at all does not correspond very much with the Buddhist disposition of the imminent birthday boy. Secondly – it was Shaka. Anyone who imagined him as the host of the party, serving snacks on a tray and singing banquet songs in the midst of the vapors of digested alcohol probably turned his head into a ball of cotton candy. Even Milo did not dare to speak to the Virgo Saint in this matter, although he was clearly tempted and even the bets were making. And at last there was found a stupid one. Well, Aiolia was new, he might not have known, Aiolos couldn't predict everything either. The stories said that he went to his neighbor just like him, with a loose and loud step, it was even said he tried to pat Shaka's back like an old friend. But these are just legends.

So there was no party, but Liwia was going to give the guard of the sixth Palace a gift anyway. It turned out to be quite a big deal, because the girl did not want to exceed the limit of appropriateness (so such personal items as Ayurvedic hair care oil or a beautifully embroidered kurta, that is a long shirt traditionally worn in India were not a good idea). Liwia learned, that it is extremely difficult to buy something for so practical, strict man. She thought of the stone incense stand, carved in a shape of a lotus, but she was afraid that her aunt could not find anything tasteful and she rather would commit seppuku than give Shaka something kitsch. Buddha statuette – she preferred not to go on such delicate topics as religion, maybe it would turn out that she bought a bust, which is a popular representation of the holy man in one of the branches of Buddhism and in another it is considered as heresy; better not. If she were a malicious self-killer she would give him the Kama Sutra; she could bet with Mask and get back the money she had lost recently... To immediately emigrate from the country. She could have bought real Indian tea for the Virgo Knight, but it was so boring and predictable. Finally, discouraged by the lack of better ideas, she decided on a traditional Indian brass tea pot.

Once (early enough so that the Knight of the Aries suspected nothing) she came to Mu for tea and surreptitiously watched what kind of tableware he will use. She praised the porcelain teapot, extruded into delicate leaves, but the man sighed and said that it was only a substitute, the best he managed to get in Greece, because there, in the Far East, the real taste of tea develops in brass jugs, forged with ornaments by the best craftsmen. He smiled slightly at his memories and she felt remorse to think that his friend would get a similar gift. Well, she consoled herself, she would think of the second one by March. Liwia gave instructions to her aunt and waited for the result.

And the effect exceeded her expectations. The jug was quite high, its slender neck was engraved with leaves and flowers, the thin handle had a beautiful sophisticated line, and the bonnet lid was topped with something like a spire with a red jasper. Liwia knew that it was jasper thanks to the annotation in her aunt's letter, who was keenly interested in esotericism and derivatives thereof. The woman also wrote that brass means sun and fire; girl laughed under her breath when she read about it – he: the Golden Knight, she: using the fire element. Destiny, nothing else. And if that wasn't enough, the received package also contained two brass cups made by the same hand as the jug. Real gems.

No one would be ashamed to give such a gift, so now completely calmed girl found a simple box, a piece of linen string and on the nineteenth of September at one o'clock in the morning she tossed such a gift near the stone, lotus platform in the House of the Virgo, salvaging after this with panic escape. Fortunately, Shaka did not appear suddenly to caught her in this evil practice of honoring his birthday. Satisfied, she returned to her small house.

* * *

The first rays of the rising sun had not yet fallen upon the House of the Virgo, when his guard walked quietly out of private chambers and almost silently traversed the "public" part of the Palace, aiming for morning tea with Aries Saint, to which he was invited the day before. Suddenly a foreign shape disturbed the perfect harmony of the familiar environment. He turned his head, releasing tentacles of cosmic energy as his substitute for eyesight. Box. Box like a sad joke.

The man stood quiet and unmoving for a moment, but finally decided to approach. His disappointment quickly turned into discouragement, but this did not change the fact that the box existed, it did not deny its materiality. Neither Mu nor his students thrown off balance of this wonderful routine by reminders of the passing time, the eternal circle of life and dying. Why did one of them suddenly change their good habit into an idiotic ritual of enjoying of what you can't enjoy? Because Shaka excluded the participation of other people. There were no other people around him. This new Lion Saint would hardly dare.

He sighed. There was no point in wondering, it was, how it was.

He took off a linen string with an intricate bow and opened the lid of a simple cardboard box. If his name wasn't Shaka, he would probably whistle in awe. But he just raised his right eyebrow about hundredths of a centimeter. Hindu jug and cups. The ones that were used in his homeland. No. The ones used by the higher castes in his homeland. The embedded stone in the jug lid acquired a deep, carmine color, just like rubies on a helmet and in the belt of the Virgo's Cloth. A beautiful gift, retaining all the elements important for Eastern culture. Unpaired in number (two cups and a jug), reference to the recipient's preferences, appropriate, symbolic colors and materials. And you don't open the gift in the presence of the giver – Mu and his students had to think everything over and do it carefully behind his back. If the hopelessness of life had not quenched the usual birthday joy, Shaka would have smiled. And if the gift were not so expensive. So expensive that it put him in an unpleasant duty of return a favour. It was a pity that Mu forgot about it.

It was, how it was.

The Golden Knight closed the lid of the box, took it in both hands and resumed his wander to the Palace of Aries. When he arrived, it dawned.

"Hello, my friend," he heard in his head as he stepped through the threshold. "Sit down, I'll boil some water."

"Do it properly, with the right tools," the blond replied telepathically and there was a note of a smile in his thoughts. He could afford it.

The Knight of Aries emerged from the kitchen. Silky, lavender hair rippled. The sea-colored iris were driven out by the dilated pupils when the man's eyes rested on the cardboard box held by Virgo. Shaka wanted to thank properly, not telepathically and only the slowness of wording saved him from _faux pas_.

"What is this?" asked shocked and slightly appalled Mu. He knew that he had once slipped about his friend's birthday. If Mask, Milo or any of the other funsters decided to give Shaka some stupid gift, everyone was doomed.

The blond froze. He could feel when someone was clearly further from the truth and Mu certainly did not pretend to be surprised. Besides, Shaka wouldn't suspect him – of all Golden Knights Aries was least suited to plotting. And he was his only friend. So Shiva or Agora. Shiva, if he had to bet on any of them.

He opened the lid of the box and set the contents on the table.

"For Padmasambhava! Where did you get it?" The Ram lifted the jug, examining it from all sides. "Holy crap, it's traditional."

"Box lay on the platform when I was coming to you," Shaka grunted. "So, Shiva?"

Mu looked at him and shook his head.

"I can't help you, I don't know anything about it. Just recently I even mentioned..."

Aries Saint paused when the enlightening came to him.

"You know," said the blond man and it sounded only a little menacing.

Amazingly, Mu grinned like an ordinary teenager.

"If you showed any interest in what is happening around you, you would guess in a moment. Not Shiva and not Agora."

Shaka was at an impasse. Who else could give him such a gift?

"Camus?" risked Virgo. He may not have been in a very close relationship with Aquarius, but they had mutual respect. The host of the eleventh House of the Zodiac thought before he acted. And he weighed the words carefully. If Shaka had to talk to someone else under a threat of shooting, he would have chosen Camus.

"Miss." Mu, _nomen omen_, looked at Virgo with a tiny smile, set the box aside and took the dishes to the counter, almost completely cluttered with tea leaves.

"Young Lion doesn't learn from mistakes?"

"Oh no. I think he's still healing his shoulder." Boiled water burst into a cloud of steam.

Shaka was silent for a moment.

"Grand Master?" Why didn't he come up with this earlier? It could have been him. After all, Shion, like the Knight of the Ram, came from Tibet, was a Buddhist, and he had great possibilities. Maybe he wanted to celebrate Shaka's nineteenth birthday exceptionally on September 19; it's an odd prime number...

"Far from it," Mu laughed, pouring the brass jug and leaves lined at its bottom.

"Tell me."

"I'm having too much fun. Keep shooting."

Shaka growled under his breath.

"Any of those clowns? Cancer? Scorpio? Fish?"

"They have names, you know? But no, none of them."

"Bull?" The blond ignored this remark. "He might want to do this just to spite."

Mu sighed and sat on the wooden stool, waiting for the brew to intensify.

"If everyone wanted to do something like this just to spite, the world would be a better place. Misfire, my friend."

"Stop playing and just tell me."

"Your answers tell me more about you than years of acquaintance and tea meetings, I will not refuse such an opportunity." Mu smiled kindly, wanting to quench the annoyance of Virgo.

"I cannot guess, I've exhausted the available options."

"I believe in you."

"Old Master?"

"No."

"Sagittarius?"

"Neither."

"So none of the Golden, because neither the Twins Knight nor Capricorn have much in common with me."

"Truth. Not that anyone except me had," Mu added quietly, but Shaka let that slide. The guard of the first Zodiac House stood up and finished the ritual, pouring the brew from a beautiful jug into two brass cups. He pressed one of them into the hands of his guest. However, Virgo put the bowl back on the table.

"I won't drink until I find out."

Mu warmed his hands, stroking the golden metal with his fingertips.

"Free hint: you were not very nice to this person."

"That's no hint," Shaka said. They both smiled.

"This person is not from here."

"Like most of us."

"You've spent one afternoon with her lately. With that person," Mu added quickly, but game was already over.

Shaka raised an eyebrow.

"She? Sanctuary Guest?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Aries shook his head.

"I was supposed to tell you: who, not: why. That is what you should know, my friend. Now drink."

"Not until I find out..."

"I will not allow that," replied angry Aries Saint. "Not to waste my best tea in the best dish I've ever seen. Or get ready for the Battle of a Thousand Days."

Shaka sighed and reached for his cup after a moment. The brew tasted insanely.

"If this will satisfy you, she makes birthday presents for everyone. Aiolia got, for example, such Polish chocolates, hmm… how Liwia called them... oh, the Bird's Milk, it tasted like marshmallows. And he got a jar of a dill pickles, it is apparently a Polish delicacy, I was not fast enough to try them. A Mask received an Italian cookbook. Thanks to this, pizza appeared on our menu," Mu said enthusiastically.

"Pizza," Shaka snapped. Pizza, but in his mouth it sounded like a shitty wheat crumpet.

"Well, cheer up now, my friend, did you not want to drink a real Indian tea? Anyway, Diwali is coming, let's celebrate it properly." The Knight of the Ram closed his eyes and enjoyed the steaming brew with pleasure.

"Take the set. We usually drink in your Temple anyway."

"Absolutely not." Mu was now cold and firm. "How can you even suggest something like that?"

"So it will lie untouched somewhere at the bottom of the wardrobe," the blond replied, tasting the last sips of the best tea he had drank since years. "Knight of Fox has no reason to feel obliged. I will not repay for this gift, but I cannot return it neither."

"You apply your strict measure to everyone. We're not in India, Shaka," Aries admonished him.

"We are not ordinary people either, Mu," replied the Virgo Knight, setting his birthday tea on the table.

* * *

The brass jug and cups were to shine in the light again after 14 years.


	6. Kaleidoscope

**One comment... someone, anyone? Please? :)**

**Kaleidoscope**

Fully laden with documents, Liwia rolled out of the Aquarius Palace and began to cautiously descending toward the lower Houses. Somewhere at the height of Aiolia's headquarters, she heard stomping and quiet humming behind her.

"_Caballeros del Zodiacooo, cuando lanzan sus ataques..._"* Milo continued until he noticed Liwia in front of him. "Oh, who do my eyes see? Deducing from a ballast, which is still smelling of Siberian snowflakes, you are going to court, right, Liwuś**?"

Liwuś he said in Polish. The girl's heart went soft.

"Deducing from your good mood, you switched with Aphrodite and you can go to the bar to watch the match, right, Escorpión?"

Milo laughed and took all the papers from her hands.

"As always, Fortuna favors me; besides, Dite doesn't really like football. Ok let's go, I am in a bit of a hurry, because the first whistle will sound soon, but at least I will take those papers downstairs for you."

As he said, he did so. Being at the foot of the Zodiac Houses, the girl said goodbye to the Golden Knight and slowly meandered between corroded columns.

"Hey, Liwia! Where are you heading again?"

"Hi, Tramy!" the girl shouted back to the Silver Sagitta Saint and she was about to wave, but she realized in time that the armful of files, folders and rolls of paper would inevitably come across the ground. Camus would not be pleased. "Oh, you know how it is, still something. I'm going to the city to return the files. And what are you planning?"

Tramy, who's really name was Ptolemy, but he denied this fact with every cell of his body, pointed his finger at the Arena.

"We have a sparring with guys. Besides, a new one has arrived, we have to examine him."

"Who?"

"Knight of The Golden Fish, he calls himself Tarant, you know, from the Tarantula Nebula. What an invention…"

Liwia did not comment that her interlocutor also created a name for himself and it is not even known what it came from.

"And sparring with whom? As usual with Dante and Capella?"

Tramy shook his head.

"No, they went to Athens for some major shopping. Sirius, Dio and Babel. There will be two on two, do you want to look?"

Liwia laughed and just lifted the volumes in her hands, indicating how much work she had.

"So long…bow!" shouted Arrow Saint.

This joke always made them laugh. Liwia began to descend down the Sanctuary.

She passed the Arena, several training squares, the armory and the cemetery before entering the village of Rodorio. Hens fled from her in all directions as if she were some kind of Hens' Death God. However, someone who had so much in common with death sat quietly at a simple table near a well-kept yard and played cards with an elder from the village.

"Marco?" Liwia tried, when she walked by.

Deathmask grinned and spat out a crushed match.

"_Impropriamente_. Keep trying, my sweet."

The girl sighed and stepped forward. Dust rising from the road made it difficult to breathe, so she stopped at the first stall she encountered to gargle throat with what was called Ariani, which is actually the local version of Turkish Ayran. She was already near the capital when she saw her favorites, two fucking disciples from Emmaus, Flip and Flap in Hindi version.

"... he has enjoyed it lately. What a store! How they could not have it this time..."

"You can do nothing, Shiva, if there is no almond milk, the master will make masala with ordinary one."

"I know, it corresponds with his divine dimension anyway, but still, such a small pleasure... "

"Pleasure is a bad word," Agora scolded. "Let us not fall into demonic hedonism. Just an option."

They didn't even notice her, they were so absorbed in conversation. No wonder, after all, a discussion just like on the NATO summit.

Being in the capital, she had to watch out for the wild crowds, which apparently had pledged to knock all of her Camus' papers like a lollipop from child' hand. Tired, she finally reached the court. They knew her well here already: of all Golden Knights Aquarius most often asked her for help. She shouldn't complain, she could work in a relatively cool office, when some of the Silvers from morning to evening, even in the greatest heat, helped Aldebaran adapt the older training grounds to knightly battles. This did not mean, however, that she had no other duties.

After handing over the files, she dashed deep into Athens to visit several shops. In addition to the usual supply for the Temple (which today, as Tramy said, dealt Dante and Capella) Liwia sometimes received individual orders. One day she took something from the antique shop for Aiolos, at the other time the Silver Knight of the Raven, Jamian, asked for grain from the pet shop (for his birds) and sometimes Minister Gigas (called a chamberlain for a joke) asked for several bedding sets for newly arrived warriors.

Now she went to the bookstore for the latest revised edition of the Spanish-English phrasebook for Shura and to the drugstore for an olive body lotion for Aphrodite. She was about to return to the Sanctuary when some confusion in one of the Athenian squares caught her attention. She came intrigued; there was a group of people, maybe a larger family, gathered around the man in Golden Armor, one of which Liwia had not seen live yet.

"Thank you, my lord! Thank you very much!" the old man yelled and one of the women, maybe his granddaughter, probably the mother of a bunch of kids, fell to the knight's feet. Gold warrior immediately took her up by the elbow.

"It is nothing, I hope that the medicine will be enough for a long time," he replied in a low voice, and his melancholic look moved to where the sun reflected from the other armor in the area. Thus, the Knight of the Twins (because it rather not was the legendary Old Master) looked straight at Liwia. "Be brave," he told to the gathered people, then approached the girl.

The Pole swallowed. There was so much nostalgia and sadness emanating from him that one could get depressed in a second. His long, wavy hair danced in a gust of wind and the strangely angular Golden Cloth almost dazzled.

"Silver Vulpecula Saint. We finally met." The man nodded politely and looked at her. Iris like vast ocean depths. Angel. Sad angel.

"It's an honor, sir." Liwia nodded back. "I'm glad to meet the creator of the Gemini House's illusions. My name is Liwia."

He nodded again.

"Saga."

So at last she met a famous pretender for the position of Grand Master. She had wanted to knock on the door of his private chambers many times, when the lack of mirages in time of passing through the third Zodiac Palace informed her about the presence of the host, but somehow she did not dare. Something always distracted her from this idea and Liwia now wondered if the intention was dying off spontaneously or if she succumbed to the power of this knight, somehow acting on the subconscious.

She knew one thing – Saga was one of the strongest knights in the Sanctuary, a cosmo that she sometimes felt when she was crossing the House of Gemini, was dense and overwhelmingly heavy. The matter of experience could not be meaningless. The man even looked older than Aiolos, though the girl knew that they were peers. Maybe because of his seriousness? Or sparks of cheerfulness in the eyes of Sagittarius and a warm shade of his hair made Aiolos look younger?

"As a Sanctuary Guest, I will happily take on any tasks you entrust to me," Liwia said, deciding rather on the formal tone and marking the distance. "If you will need anything..."

"It won't be necessary, I'm sure that servicing other knights is quite absorbing," Saga replied and even such words sounded quite sad. "I think that overcoming my illusions is already a sufficient commitment. Now forgive me, but my duties call."

"Of course." Liwia bowed her head and when she looked ahead again, the Gemini was gone. Like a dream or delusion.

The girl went to a few places for minor errands (she visited, among others, a chef's shop with gourmet culinary products), after which she began a leisurely return journey to the Sanctuary. Very leisurely, because she even went to the coast and allowed herself a short, refreshing bath. As she washed the dust off her armor, it seemed to her that the whistling wind blowing from the south brought some angry scream and curse. Liwia froze, but nothing else reached her ears. She laughed, convinced that her imagination was playing tricks on her. Of course, there were legends about Andromeda's screams, about the wrath of Poseidon and the poor wretches, locked up in the legendary prison at Cape Sounion, from where this sound came to the girl, but the stories of the ghosts were known all over the world, and Liwia had far too much work to be worry by them. She put on her armor, scooped up her packages and went up the slope looking for shade.

It was still quiet at Rodorio. Two motionless figures were constantly bending over their cards.

"Marcello?"

"God forbid," Mask snorted. "We're done, wait a minute, I'll go with you."

The man scooped his money from the pot, said goodbye to the elder of the village and joined Liwia, keeping hands in his pockets. The girl told him about the meeting Saga in Athens.

"Wow, it's a real rarity these days." Cancer took a battered cigarette from somewhere and gave it to the girl. Liwia sighed and lit it with a light dose of her fiery cosmo. "I know a little his twin brother, Kanon. Piece of work, I tell you."

"I didn't know he had a brother," Liwia was surprised. "Although, looking at his constellation, I should have guessed. Is he also a knight?"

"Eh, no. Kanon always had a casual attitude toward life, which driven Saga nuts. But the peasant was a good drinking companion. I think he still has some dirty dealings abroad, that's why he doesn't come here often."

"Twins, but completely different" the Pole mused. "Saga seemed so calm and noble to me, and very sad at the same time."

"Yeah, the locals think he is some kind of angel of goodness," Cancer snorted and inhaled a gray cigarette smoke. "In general, we have so many examples to follow, one wants to puke."

"Yeah, yeah, you wouldn't wear Golden Armor if it could have belonged to the thugs and varmints," Liwia laughed. "Do you want these cigarettes or not?"

"Sure, give it, baby. Camels?"

"My word is more expensive than money," she said, very pleased with herself and reached for the package from the bottom of the bag.

"You're a real treasure!" Deathmask embraced her waist, but the girl quickly slipped out, arousing a wave of giggle in the Golden Knight. He opened a packet of cigarettes and held it out.

"I shouldn't," she said weakly, so weakly that she felt embarrassed about herself.

"There is nowhere in the regulations about smoking outside the Sanctuary," Mask tempted.

"So there IS a smoking ban IN the Sanctuary, huh? So what is this bluish haze which I see whenever I cross your Palace?"

"This is my form of incense," Cancer replied with a smile. "Shaka can smoke them like a fucking psycho pyrotechnist, so I see no reason to forbid me my ritual practices. Come on, take it, you don't want to be as sanctimonious as him, eh?"

"I wish I had his power," Liwia sighed and reached for a cigarette. She lit it with her fingertips and puff for the first time in her life. She thought she would spit out her lungs. She even drowned out Mask's laughing. The man patted her on the back, threw away his cigarette butt, took this whole one from the girl and put it unceremoniously in his mouth.

"Not too much at once," he explained with a smile to an indignant Polish girl. "We have a patrol on Wednesday, then you can try again. If you don't like it, you can always smoke incense, since the Mr. Perfect impresses you so much."

"Yeah, right, try harder to pretend his power doesn't impress you," Liwia muttered, now wanting to bite Mask's pride at all costs.

"Sure it doesn't," the man shrugged. "I'll tell you something. Either he is twisted, because no one with healthy brain can cut himself off from all pleasures: it will eventually brings costs; or the saint Saint draws a halo just for show, I see no other option. Probably in his quarters he organizes a nice orgies, that's what."

"You're afraid of him." Liwia grinned. "You wouldn't want to piss him off, don't even try to deny it."

"I won't." Deathmask took a inhale of a cigarette and released a smoke ring. "I wouldn't like to piss off any of them, especially the mental ones. Mu, Saga and Shaka," he explained in response to her questioning look. "I prefer the traditional beating, not the fucking brainwaves."

"Wait: don't you use the Hades Waves attack?"

"It's different, I can take you straight to hell, pretty cool for me. And make there this traditional beating," he finished in a matter-of-fact tone.

They came to the Sanctuary and Liwia, knowing that Mask was going to visit the Pisces Knight, asked him to give Aphrodite the purchased cosmetic.

"What? You want me to parade with some lotion? What do you think am I, a POP star?"

But he took and got to the top.

In the meantime, Liwia came to the first Zodiac House, put the almond milk under the door to the private quarters and left a note "For those teas of yours" on it. She couldn't refuse herself to cut Shiva and Agora down to size.

In the Arena, she found Shura, supervising the training of Rigiel, Silver Orion Saint and Misty, the Silver Knight of the Lizard. Capricorn shouted at them from time to time, something like "Back and forth!", "On right you must watch!" "Forsooth, miserable your fight is!" and Liwia recalled the medieval engravings, which she could marvel in her parents' private collections, presenting strict fencing teachers and their depressed students. The Golden Knight appraised her with his small cold eyes, but their gaze warmed up immediately when the warrior received a fresh-smelling phrasebook. Liwia asked again for the honor of training in the presence of Excalibur and Shura did not say "no" this time, only: "Time will show" and "Being patient I recommend". She thanked him and promised to be so.

She hastily invaded the Canteen and ate musaka in a hurry; it was made according to the recipe of the chef's grandmother. At least he said so. Liwia preferred lasagne, but she wasn't going to be picky, she still had a lot to do. She took the dishes and almost flew out of the building, not caring about something like heartburn. Sixteen-year-olds do not know this concept at all.

She returned to her small house, threw sweaty clothes into the laundry basket, and glanced at the schedule. First: helping Aiolos with collecting clothes (they were taking them for homeless people); second: training with Asterion (Silver Knight of Hounds) and – what was not on the list – meeting a new colleague, Tarant. She closed the door behind her and began to tread toward the Zodiac Houses, singing under her breath:

Czerwone jabłuszko przekrojone na krzyż,

czemu ty, rycerzu, krzywo na mnie patrzysz?***

She raised her head, admiring the buildings bathed in the afternoon sun. From this distance, some Palaces were barely outlined against the rocks, and she would not have seen the beautiful peristases, portals, porticos and sculptures if she had not been aware of them. Her eyes were fixed on two female statues inviting to enter the shadow of the sixth House of the Zodiac. Or discouraging, considering the host.

Czerwone jabłuszko po ziemi się toczy,

czemu ty, rycerzu, masz zamknięte oczy?****

She had training grounds on her right. Temple female warriors with Shaina at the forefront were practicing on one of them. Since their duel, the green-haired girl was hissing at the sight of Pole like a cat and similarly pulled her claws, so Liwia gave up with subsequent attempts to repair the relationship and adopted the principle of "getting out of the way so as not to go yet a ditch."

Gęsi za wodą, kaczki za wodą,

uciekaj, dziewczyno, bo cię pobodą…*****

She raised her hand to greet Algol-Perseus, who was passing by, and happily ran up the first stairs leading to the Temple of Athena. In the Aries Palace she glanced at the entrance to the private chambers. The milk was gone. Maybe it was already drunk.

She continued climbing, passing another Palaces.

Mazurek, mazureczek! Oberek, obereczek! Kujawiak…******

"Whom do my ears hear?"

She turned back.

"What, is it already over?" she asked, smiling to Scorpio. "You usually argue longer than the match takes itself."

"There was nothing to comment on. Loosers lost to Olympiacos, so we didn't want to talk, and all because of that Górski of yours. Eh. It's good that the concert is in the evening, music allows you to forget about pain."

"What concert?"

"Haven't you heard who came to us?" Milo asked in amazement. "Since morning girls were talking only about... Ah, ok, I know already why you didn't hear anything from them."

"Do you mean test for Tarant?" Liwia asked, wondering if they always called the trial in the Arena a "concert" or only after what she showed herself.

"Who's Tar… Ah, the one of the Golden Fish? Nooo, he is a different story, we postponed his test and other evening trainings for tomorrow, just because of the concert. Orphee has arrived, Liwuś. A living legend. Don't say you didn't hear about him."

"That Orphee? Lyra Silver Saint?"

"Himself," Milo smiled. "Even the Grand Master will come."

"Oh, boy, oh, boy, oh, boy," Liwia whispered excitedly. "I have to come early, otherwise I won't see anything, the whole Sanctuary will appear for sure."

"At most our Bull will carry you... piggyback."

"Keep working on the level of your jokes, Milo," the girl laughed and patted him on the shoulder. Because of all this, she didn't notice Shaka, who appeared in front of them. Probably he was heading towards the first House of the Zodiac.

Liwia had a little problem with such knights, because she completely didn't know how to greet them. With those easy-going she was on "hi" from the very beginning and it sounded quite natural. With Camus such a phrase did not fit, so she used to say the seemingly light, but still quite formal "good morning". However, seeing Shura or Shaka that "hi" or "good morning" stuck in the throat and "greetings" was incorrect (at most they could greet her like that, but because of their status, Liwia should speak first). For this reason Pole developed a set in the form of a light nod and the word addition "sir". Nothing better came to her mind.

When now, completely unprepared, she noticed Shaka, somehow the cat got her tongue. What could not be said about Scorpio. He was clearly having a good day.

"Hi! May I Shaka your hand?" he shot, smiling from ear to ear and extending his right hand.

Liwia snorted before her brain banned this.

The blond ignored them completely as if they were an air and descended from the next stairs in majestic way.

"Well," Milo withdrew that hand just to scratched his own head, "I hoped he would spit, but I have to live without it."

"Why is he treating us all like that?" asked girl, while observing the long blond hair torn by the wind before it disappeared behind the stairs.

"You have to take him warts and all," Milo said cheerfully. "Reportedly, he was like that when he appeared in the Sanctuary years ago. I have nothing against him, he's probably a cool guy, though a hellish recluse. Mu likes him, that means he's okay. In addition, in the event of a skirmish, he will certainly blow his opponents to smithereens. You know, there are legends about his skills."

"Aiolos told me a little about the attacks of the Golden Knights." Liwia remembered her first day at the Sanctuary and her visit to the Sagittarius House. "He said that Shaka knows many interesting techniques and one of them combines perfect defense with offensive; Heaven's Treasures or something like that."

"Yhm, Tenbu Hōrin," Milo confirmed.

Polish girl frozed.

"Wait, I've heard that! He used it on mother and her son that day on the outskirts of Athens!"

"Nah, maybe it was a lighter version or something," Scorpio waved his hand. "Supposedly this is his most dangerous technique, it can permanently destroy the senses of the opponent, one by one, at the same time the victim is unable to move, he is like paralyzed. Uh," the man shuddered.

"Yeah, but you can attack someone with slow poison, am I right? Madness or death? Possibly escape, if you let?"

"Seriously, Aiolos told you that?" Milo was a bit amused. "I didn't think he's such a talker. The attacks of the Golden Knights are a kind of open secret, but he should at least keep up appearances."

"It's just because I look trustworthy," Liwia winked at Scorpio. "So?"

Milo glanced at her with a smile on his lips.

"Scarlet Needle. Fourteen holes on the body, forming the shape of a Scorpio constellation." The man drew a s-shaped line in the air. "And bam! Fifteenth Antares, the final blow, a nail in coffin for the resistant opponents. But rather no one will survive all the previous hits."

"Awesome!"

"And I can prevent someone from moving, acting directly on the mind," he boasted, feeling he had the right audience. "People also say that of all Golden Knights' fighting styles, my is the fastest, but I don't know, I had no chance to compare, you know, it's forbidden."

"A Battle of a Thousand Days?"

"Yeah. Boooring. Who would ever want to do such thing?" Milo stretched out loud. Liwia did not miss the fact that the Scorpio presented an impressive musculature of his arms. Certainly by accident.

The sun was lowering its flight in the sky and they were now at the height of the eighth Zodiac Palace.

"And where are you going anyway? To Camus?" the man asked suddenly.

"To Aiolos, we're collecting clothes for the homeless."

"Don't you prefer to stay in my place? I still have some beer and crackers."

Liwia hesitated. It would be great, especially that she likes Milo immensely and had the feeling of reciprocity. Sagittarius certainly would not draw consequences from such truancy, but also a small scratch in her image could appear. She sighed.

"I'd love to, but maybe some other time, I shouldn't leave Aiolos alone with a ton of clothes, if they crush him, I'll have the Golden Knight on my conscience."

Scorpio nodded, not taking his eyes from her. It was obvious that he wanted to say something more. Finally he dared.

"So maybe I can invite you somewhere to dance instead? There are only wooden pegs in Sanctuary, nobody to go crazy with. What are you doing on the Saturday evening?"

Liwia felt a note of excitement.

"What am I doing? I think I am dancing with Scorpio, you know, training and stuff."

"I'll come for you," he said with a disarming smile and disappeared into the shadow of his own Palace.

The Polish girl took a deep breath. She just started flirting with the Golden Knight. She was ambitious, that's for sure.

Finally she reached the headquarters of Sagittarius. Apparently, it was for Liwia a day of meeting various personalities, because the host wasn't alone.

"Let me introduce you," Aiolos came to meet her, pointing to the short-haired, slender man standing nearby. "This is Christofor, the Silver Knight of the North Crown, called the Crystal Saint, student of Camus. Chris, this is Liwia, Silver Knight of Fox, Sanctuary Guest from Poland."

"Nice to meet you." The man reached out a stone cold hand and appraised her with blue eyes. "I know a little of your master, Gerard. He's a great warrior."

"We are clearly lucky with teachers," Liwia said eloquently. To tell the truth, she had no idea Camus had a student. In fact, Aquarius did not speak much about himself, so everything was possible.

"I'd like to hear it from Aiolia someday," laughed the Sagittarius.

"So see you at the concert." The Crystal Knight nodded for goodbye; the blue cape waved behind him when he climbed on the higher stairs.

"He came to visit his mentor," Sagittarius explained, starting a browse of clothes. "He wants to ask him about the possibility of taking a student; he found some promising boy."

"So the master's consent is enough in this matter?"

"Master's and the Grand Master's. You know, many students will never receive any armor, but that doesn't mean that they will become useless. Sanctuary also needs an ordinary warriors, we don't know what we will be dealing with."

Liwia sensed that Aiolos was more serious than usual. The Sagittarius' concerned face was a disturbing signal.

"Something's wrong? You look sad."

The man looked at her in surprise, then waved his hand and brightened the face.

"It's just fatigue, nothing more. I think I will take Aiolia's words to heart and rest a bit next week. Well, let's get to work, we can't be late for the evening concert."

The girl felt that Aiolos was not completely honest with her, but she did not delve into the topic.

The sun set over the horizon when they managed to sort, describe and pack everything into boxes. Without waiting they started running down the temple stairs, seeing from afar swarming crowds in the Arena. If it goes on like this, they will arrive last. Liwia began to think seriously if Bull could take her piggyback.

At the height of the Virgo Temple they felt a gentle and calm cosmo vibration. After crossing the threshold, they saw the paradise landscape; the host of the sixth Palace was designing a similar environment when he was keeping vigil, all devoted to his meditations, what Liwia had already discovered on the first day of her visit in the Sanctuary. But whenever she had the opportunity to go through that vision again, she could do nothing but admire. Admire and try to control a skin's chills.

Aiolos sighed and slowed down as he walked toward the solar flares. That is towards the Golden Virgo.

"Shaka, this is an unique opportunity to hear a living legend. You really don't want to experience this? He won't be closer."

The vision dispelled and only cold stone walls remained. Lost paradise.

"Someone must guard the Sanctuary. There were no other volunteers," Shaka muttered, not moving an inch his hands folded in prayer. He sat cross-legged on a stone platform carved in lotus flower. Eyelids topped with long eyelashes traditionally hid the color of the iris. Nobody but Mu knew what were their colors. Of course, Mask was collecting bets.

"I can replace you," Aiolos blurted out and Liwia looked at Sagittarius in amazement. It was an incredible act of altruism, want to resign the Orphee's concert for another knight. For THIS knight.

The right corner of Shaka's lips rose slightly. God of irony.

"There is no need. Such gatherings are… not my cup of tea".

Aiolos stood a moment longer, but finally he smiled and said:

"All right, we won't bother you anymore. See you next time."

Liwia suddenly felt that all desire to go to the concert abandoned her. She had no idea what had happened, but all was like then, when she came to the Palace of the Virgo for the first time. Some kind of attraction, completely inexplicable. Although... maybe Golden Saint himself deliberately influenced her? But just what purpose would he have in this?

She awoke. Sagittarius was almost leaving the Palace; she took the first few steps to join him, but suddenly she turned, looked at the still, bright silhouette of the host and said:

"Your cosmo has a special effect on me. Like I've known you for years. You're doing it on purpose?"

It seemed to her that Shaka slightly raised his right eyebrow.

"I do not know what you mean, Vulpecula Saint."

Liwia stood still, staring at the blonde.

"I saw you in my vision years ago. You had a necklace or beads in your hand, I don't know. But this can't be the only reason, it's-" she suddenly realized that Shaka, despite his closed eyes, was staring intently at her. And he even frowned. From afar, she heard Aiolos calling her name. Confused, she took a step back and flushed, trying to make a funny tone: "It's probably because of the smell of incense, somehow I like them very much. Forgive me, I'm going now." She bowed and fled toward the exit.

"Everything all right?" Sagittarius asked worriedly when she joined him.

"Yeah, it just got hot somehow, don't you think?"

Well, he probably didn't, no one would think that after dark it would be hotter than in the full sun of the day. Fortunately, the first sounds came from the Arena, saving Liwia from further explanation. They hurried in that direction, almost losing their breath.

Lyra Silver Saint, Orphee, played many beautiful melodies that evening, so beautiful that it was impossible to mistake him for an ordinary, talented musician. Lyre in his hands came to life and created sounds that touched the soul. If Liwia had ever wondered how the legendary knight could fight holding a stringed instrument in his hands, now she knew. And she understood why at least one Golden Knight had to stay in the Zodiac Houses. There was no doubt that if Orphee wanted, he could enchant them all, throw them into the abyss of memories and feelings, lock them inside stunned bodies, crash their vigilance and go, untouched, wherever he wished. If he wanted to.

Liwia, despite standing in further rows, managed to see the figure of the artist-knight. He was all very lyrical, had a lyrical, delicate appearance and lyrically subtle movements. He played leaned on a fallen column and looked like one of the prophets of the Romanticism movement. Liwia almost wanted to recite Mickiewicz.

Orphee bowed at the end of the performance, but the crowd did not allow him to leave. They all demanded an encore. The musician closed his eyes, waited for the applause to cease and said before he ran his fingers over lyre:

"Death Trip Serenade."

**[Inspiration: Saint Seiya OST - Death Trip Serenade]**

And then he played. He played, but as if he forced their souls to find the deepest layers of melancholy, sadness and hope. Liwia, like many others, often allow herself to be charmed by music that evoked memories and feelings, but what she was now experiencing could not be compared with something as ordinary as sensitivity to art. Listlessness swept her, as if a cold silk had been laid on her face, as if every splinter of her heart was pulled out on top, not exacerbating the pain, but carrying the sadness of understanding. There was a necessity, awareness of loss, but also a strange determination to continue journey deep inside yourself, to still having faith in the future.

She awoke when there was silence. Grand Master, who was standing in the highest circle of the Arena, was the first who shaken of the numbness. He began to clap. Others slowly joined him, finally everyone applauded loudly, very loudly, to the pain of hands.

Liwia too. Right after she wiped away a stray tear.

* * *

* A fragment of opening: Amado Jaén, _La Canción De Los Caballeros_

** "Liwuś" is a Polish diminutive of the name Liwia (perhaps equivalent to "Livie"?)

*** It is an old Polish song. I have changed some words to fit them with the situation. I think it can be translated as below (it is my own translation):

_Little red apple on the cross is cut, _

_why you, my knight, look at me like that?_

**** _Little red apple is rolling on the ground,_

_why your eyes, my knight, are always close and down?_

***** _Geese behind the water, ducks behind the water,_

_run, girl, run, because they will peck and bother..._

_****** Mazurek, little mazurek, oberek, little oberek, kujawiak… _(these are a Polish dances)


	7. Forefathers' Eve

**Forefathers' Eve**

* * *

* In the description of the ritual I used the immortal "Dziady part. II" by Adam Mickiewicz (translated by Charles S. Kraszewski – Glagoslav Publications Ltd.; I wrote it in _italics_) and hellishly atmospheric "Lilla Weneda" by Juliusz Słowacki (my own translation; I wrote it in a straight, common font), mixing them together, rearranging and adding my own words here and there (I hope that the gentlemen do not rolling over in their graves);

** The whole word content of the ritual song is the "Sol Invictus" song by Żywiołak band (also the English translation; I wrote it in **bold**).

* * *

It was evening of the last day of October. Autumn has come to its full, although in Liwia's view the Greek fall had not been much different from a summer. The girl was used to the fact, that in similar season she usually wore up heavy boots, which could protected against bad weather and the first frosts and put on kilos of wool sweaters, so that the limbs would not fall off from a cold during the five-minute journey. Here, the dog-days were lasting endlessly, the clothes were fading from the sun and never-ending laundry, the skin was tanning to the golden shade. It was easy to forget about worries when the weather was convincing that all-season holidays are actually possible.

She stretched like a cat and yawned loudly. She recalled her last dancing with Milo – just like during the first time, it turned out that in dance matter they were made for each other. She had no idea if it was good, but she was looking forward to going out with him again. Finally, she didn't feel lonely when everyone around was celebrating the weekend, hanging out with friends from club to club.

She awoke from pensive mood and jumped down from the sun-heated stone block. She had done everything that belonged to her duties that day, so only a pleasant walk to the cottage and a well-deserved night rest awaited her. At least, she thought so.

"There you are!" From among the ruins emerged the figure of Noesis, the Silver Triangle Knight. The man was older than her by a decade and in the Sanctuary he was treated like an elder brother for all Silvers. Now he seemed more serious than usual, which could have been alarming. "You have guests. They were asking about you in Rodorio, so the villagers sent one of their own to the training ground."

"What guests?" The Polish girl felt a slight twinge of excitement. If anyone could visit her, it would be one of three people: her aunt, her master or Janek. She saw no other option. In any case, Liwia would be extremely happy.

"A strange group," said Noesis, slightly worried. "Seven women of different ages, two men and an old man. Peculiarly dressed. They didn't speak Greek or English, so people in Rodorio were a little confused, but finally they figured out that these weird guests were talking about you."

Liwia was completely stunned. At first, she couldn't put two and two together, so she was unsuccessfully trying to find a group of friends who matched the description. Finally, however, a grim supposition arose in her head.

"Day. What day is it today?" she asked the knight, still deluding herself that she was mistaken.

"Er... Friday? The thirty-first of October. Why do you ask?"

"Because it seems," the girl said with flat tone, "that the dead claim their attention on their feast day."

* * *

The Grand Master walked back and forth across the red carpet. It apparently helped him gather his thoughts.

"Wait. Are you telling me, that these people came here to help you perform a ritual tonight to free the spirits of your countrymen's ancestors from some evil forces?"

"Not exactly, Grand Master," Liwia scratched her head. The whole situation was uncomfortable for her, because now she had to explain herself to the knights' superior, as if she had done something wrong. And it certainly wasn't her fault. "The Dziady ritual, that is Forefathers' Eve ritual is to help us communicate with our ancestors, who in this one night have the opportunity to temporarily fastened themselves in our world to give us advice about the present and future of our country. This is useful knowledge, but the fragility of the veil between the worlds that occurs on the night of November 1, enhanced by the power of the ritual, is always used by demons. They are first to break through the border and they must be overcome, if we want to see the spirits of ancestors at the Congregation. So chasing them away is in our interest," she finished with a slightly sour face.

"But you said that your master, the Silver Knight of the Swallow, usually takes part in the ritual, except when Forefathers' Eve is a voluntary, final attempt before receiving the armor."

"That's true," Liwia sighed. "A year ago I took part in Forefathers' Eve to prove myself and show my master that I was worth wearing Silver Fox Armor. And I passed the test, so I can't understand the decision of the Congregation. When I came to Rodorio they simply demanded my participation. They wandered all this way, fighting against time, because of their conviction that I must be the one to clear the path for ancestral spirits. And they looked deadly serious. They had a letter from my master. It's in English." The girl pulled a letter from her pocket and handed it to the Grand Master.

The man was reading the letter in silence, until he looked up at the girl.

"He also doesn't seem delighted, and yet he is asking for help. Why?"

"Our country..." Liwia paused, feeling some strange shame. As if these matters should in principle remain at the discretion of her countrymen, as if complaining to strangers was a form of betrayal. Finally, she considered it unwise. "Our country is currently in a difficult situation, the moods are not the best, we can say that we are facing a breakthrough. We just don't know in what shape we will get out of this breakthrough," she sighed and continued: "The ancestors never spoke directly, but gave veiled advice, scraps of vision, a word of warning. The Congregation interprets it, which apparently has helped to avoid a total disaster. At least that's what was said."

"So you want to test yourself once again to help your country, I understand. But I don't understand why it has to be you? What happened a year ago that the Congregation decided to follow you so far?"

"I... I don't know, Grand Master." Liwia hung her head. "It's not like I didn't fulfill my duties last time, my master is a witness. I asked Guślarz about it, that is the Shaman, the chairman of the Congregation, but he replied only, that in a dreamy vision it were the ghosts themselves who ordered him to do so. Sounds like a fairy tale, I realize," the girl smiled wryly. "But there is no time for other options."

Shion stood and stared at his subordinate without blinking.

"You need my permission."

"Yes, Grand Master." Liwia bowed her head humbly. "I am not delighted with this whole situation, but for the greater good I should take part in Dziady."

"But we're not in Poland. Is the Congregation certain that this will work in our lands?"

Liwia scratched her head again. She was already completely disheveled.

"The Shaman claimed that yes, that important are the Polish Congregation and the Polish Fire Dancer, that is the participant. That is me," she said in explanatory words. She cleared her throat. "Apparently, country does not matter, but, ironically, a specific place does."

"That means…?"

"Cemetery. Forefathers' Eve is celebrated in the cemetery," she spoke more and more quietly, as if the scenery of the graves could be the last straw. Liwia just waited for the Grand Master to burst out laughing, considering it all to be a very original joke. "At midnight."

"Of course, how else," Shion muttered, slightly lifting the corners of his mouth. "And you don't need cups full of virgins' blood?"

"For my experience: no, Grand Master. But torches could be useful. And a lot of food along with a drink."

"For the Congregation?"

"For ancestors. They use to be hungry."

Now he finally started laughing.

"Only, if I can," she timidly interrupted her supervisor's burst of humor, "I'm not sure if the Knights Cemetery is a good place. I mean... it seems that it doesn't matter, the aura of the place counts, but still... There lie the Knights of Athena," Liwia spread her hands helplessly. "A lot of blood, a lot of violence, sacrifice, bravery, loyalty... it's all buried with them. I do not know if the Congregation is fully aware that this is not a necropolis like any other. So I suggest a cemetery for the inhabitants of Rodorio on the outskirts of the village."

The Grand Master's face was impenetrable. Liwia thought too late that she had just given him a lecture about his own friends, brothers in the Zodiac. She swallowed hard.

"There must be something that is required of you during the ritual and you are not very happy about it. What is it?" he asked flatly with superiors' colorless voice.

Liwia shuffled from foot to foot.

"The point is, the Fire Dancer must be in a sense between the world of the living and the valley of the dead." The girl looked towards the window bay; the inexorably darkening sky forced the heart to work faster. "Must be the bait for demons. So that they want to show themselves, that they want to cross the border of hell. Only then he or she will be able to beat them. That is why Fire Dancer should be... properly prepared."

Shion sent her an urged glance.

"I mean light beating and drugged with herbs. Oh, and crepe hands with a rope," the girl blurted out.

The Grand Master's eyebrow disappeared under his helmet.

"And you are still able to fight?"

She nodded.

"I don't remember much of it, almost nothing, but a year ago somehow I succeeded. If you have Slav blood and you are a good, righteous warrior, devoted to your homeland, you should be worthy of Szczerbiec, a ritual sword, which will not only cut the rope at the right moment, but also destroy all demons that will appear in the circle of salt and fire."

"A circle of salt and fire." The Grand Master did not even ask anymore, only repeated it deafly.

Liwia made the wheel with her thumbs.

"Yes. Flame is the power of Swarożyc, the sun god, a kind of protector for the Slavs. In addition, hot summons demons, makes them feel more confident and also blind, so they do not see the salt, which prevents them from escaping. And a real Fire Dancer should ultimately take over this element, Swarożyc's tool, and use it against demons."

Shion chewed her words slowly. Finally, he turned away from Liwia and walked toward the massive throne. As he sat down, the pale green strands of long hair scattered over the golden edges of the furniture. He was silent for a long moment, which made the girl think that the room was falling into evening darkness, until he folded his hands in a pyramid and spoke:

"If that's your will, I let you take part in the ritual. First, however, it will take place at the Sanctuary Cemetery. The inhabitants of Rodorio owe us nothing, I will not disturb them with other people's matters. If Forefathers' Eve is not an attempt to necromancy or achieve others dark results, and I trust you in this regard, the ritual can take place there. However, if your fears were to be confirmed, I would like to see several knights nearby, including myself. And this is my second condition. If you are sure, you can tell the Congregation. And I do not accept negotiations. Either we do it as I say, or they can go back to Poland."

"Understood. Thank you very much, Grand Master!" Liwia bowed deeply and ran out of the room, almost tripping over her own legs.

Shion sighed, closed his eyes and quickly found cosmo traces of his subordinates.

"Deathmask. Shaka. Camus. I am waiting for you in my chamber."

Three confirmations came to him in answer.

When after a long moment Cancer, the last of the arrivals, closed the massive door to the room behind him and casually knelt next to the other two Golden Knights, the Grand Master introduced the issue of Forefathers' Eve.

"As you can see" he said, ending "the matter is unusual, but I agreed because of the sensitive political situation in the Sanctuary Guest' country. I would like you to stay as observers of the ritual, but if the events get out of control, you should act according to your skills. Mask and Shaka-" these knights raised their heads "-I leave the matter of demons and infernal spirits to you. Camus: we don't want a fire in the Sanctuary, especially carried by some beasts from the depths of Hades. Keep your finger on the pulse. Besides, whether it seems to me or you know Polish?"

"Only a little, Grand Master." Camus raised his stone face to his superior.

"Then you'll explain to me how much you will understand of this whole performance. If everything is clear, you can dismissed. See you before midnight at the Knights Cemetery. And one more thing: not a word to the others, I don't want onlookers."

"Yes sir," Shaka and Camus replied and Mask just snorted.

"If I knew we were going to play on a Halloween party, I'd hollow out the pumpkin."

Shaka thought that it would be enough to put his head instead of a pumpkin, they would not even need to hollow out anything. But of course he didn't say a word.

* * *

Liwia finished braiding and stepped away from the mirror. She reached for the clothes prepared for her. She pulled a white robe over her back and tied it around her waist with a plain linen cord. The legs of the canvas pants were covered with uppers of black leather shoes, which the girl laced very tightly. Never mind the museum outfit, but if she were to stumble in a circle of fire, she might as well commit suicide right now. She had to rely on agility, because – unfortunately – soon they will take her consciousness in a significant part; what remains then, if not body memory?

The girl, wincing in disgust, covered the arms with wolf skin, which was passed down from generation to generation. It was full of tan holes and carrying brown blood stains. Liwia knew whose.

Finally, she reached for the wreath woven by the Congregation. Herbs, evergreen shrubs and autumn leaves – after putting this on her head, she could confidently pretend to be a nymph or elf during fantasy lovers' meetings or entertain the Rural Women Association.

She sighed. When the knights chosen by the Grand Master see her, they will probably die laughing. "Or maybe not", she corrected herself as she left her hut and headed towards the cemetery chapel, where the first part of the ritual was taking place. "When they see me, I will barely stand on my feet and maybe they will not be so joyful."

* * *

**[Inspiration: Percival – Dziewczyna Swarożyca]**

It was eleven o'clock in the evening and no lamps were lit in the building, not even the smallest candle, so the silhouettes of the Congregation' members were almost exclusively woven from the darkness. The Shaman (Guślarz), two Eaters (Żercy) and seven female-Eaters (Żerczynie) stood in a circle in the middle of the chapel. Various instruments lay at their feet and though they were only dark lumps for Liwia's eyes, she knew that she was dealing with hurdy-gurdy, violins, rebecs, flutes and various percussion.

She sighed and crossed the circle. When she stood inside it, the grave silence was broken by a chorus of nine throats:

Ciemno wszędzie, głucho wszędzie, _("All is darkness, all is quiet.)_

Co to będzie, co to będzie? _(What will happen here tonight?")_

The query was repeated for a long time. Finally the Shaman spoke:

Już straszna północ przybywa, _("Now the dreadful hour's at hand – ) _

Zamykajcie drzwi na kłódki; _(It's midnight – strongly bolt the door,)_

Weźcie smolny pęk łuczywa, _(Take the pitchy smouldering brand,)_

Stawcie w środku kocioł wódki. _(And set the cauldron on the floor.) _

A gdy laską skinę z dala, _(Now, when you see me nod my stave) _

Niechaj się wódka zapala. _(Then set the vodka-pot ablaze.")_

As he commanded, it was done this way: the chapel door was bolted, and the blue light of the burning liquid gently scattered the thick veil of darkness. Shadows began to dance on the walls while Liwia wondered if in the event of an invasion of OSH services everyone would end up in detention for violating health and safety regulations. From the frivolous thought, the voice of the head of the Congregation snapped her:

Na głowie ma kraśny wianek, _("She wears a wreath upon her brow,)_

W ręku zielony badylek, _(She bears a green switch in her hand – )_

A przed nią bieży baranek, _(Before her romps a playful lamb,)_

A nad nią leci motylek. _(A butterfly glides near[…].")_

"I feel exactly as embarrassed as I was a year ago," Liwia thought, and she almost smiled despite the chilling scenery. The version that was recited with male Fire Dancers, like her master for example, was far more epic; she had to struggling with this butterfly and lamb... Meanwhile, Eaters turned to Shaman and said about the old man:

Białe lice i obsłony, _("Complexion pale, expression drear,)_

Jako śnieg po nowym roku. _(Like snow fallen at the New Year – )_

Wzrok dziki i zasępiony _(A look both sorrowful and crazed) _

Utopił całkiem w jej oku. _(He sinks deep in her fast-fixed gaze.")_

Old man reached for a clay mug standing on a stone pedestal (on which, probably, there were usually coffins), crossed the circle and handed Liwia the dish.

The girl reached for a cup and drank the contents at once. Nobody but the members of the Congregation knew the recipe of the drink. To Liwia it tasted like some herbal vodka, but it worked much faster than it. And more rapidly. How rapidly everyone was to find out in a moment.

Liwia said:

Dębowe wieńce na czołach, ("On the foreheads – oak wreaths,)

A w ręku harfy złociste; (And golden harps in their hands;)

W piersiach serca bursztynowe, (Amber hearts in the chests,)

Jak słońca złote i czyste; (Like gold and pure suns;)

A w ustach pieśni grobowe, (And the mourning songs in throats,)

Co budzą narodów lwy; (Which awake the lions nations';)

To są harfiarze! To wy! (These are harpers' Congregation!)

Dębowe wieńce na czołach, (On the foreheads – oak wreaths,)

A w ręku harfy złociste… (And golden harps in their hands...")

She recited the passage two more times, or at least that many she could counted, because on the third repetition the words began to escape her mind, swirling in the subconscious and morphing into completely new creations that Liwia could no longer stop. Eaters' strong arms suddenly caught her from both sides and held with an iron grip. What's more – the Vulpecula Saint had no idea when she fell silent, and instead of her voice the silence of the chapel was broken by the singing of female-Eaters and the melody played on the instruments brought by the Congregation. Without interrupting their mantric incantation, Guślarz exclaimed:

Podajcie mi, przyjaciele,_ ("Now take the wreath down from the pole.)_

Ten wianek na koniec laski. _(I set the blesséd herbs alight,)_

Zapalam święcone ziele, _(It catches fire – a flash of light)_

W górę dymy, w górę blaski! _(And upward clouds of incense roll!")_

She felt a tug when a braided ornament was torn off her forehead. After a while, the smell of burning herbs came to her. The sense of confusion was even more pronounced, her head was heavy as lead, the sounds were sharp and unpleasant, and the colors strangely blurred. She shuddered when one of the female-Eaters blindfolded her eyes. The material was ice cold and seemed woven by steel.

Liwia no longer reasoned logically, she did not think about the course of the ritual, and yet, like Pavlov's dog, she succumbed to the associations and immediately thought: "Don't break my teeth." Someone grabbed her hair, raising her head.

Blow.

The hit spilled hot all over her face and ripped some inarticulate sound out of her throat. Hair tug.

Blow.

Something wet ran down the corner of her mouth.

Blow. Blow. Blow.

She did not lose consciousness. But she lost her identity. She was a vessel ready to be filled.

* * *

Shaka stood on the rolling hill surrounding the cemetery. He came earlier than he intended, wanting to look more closely at the preparations for the ritual, what in the event of unforeseen troubles could help him discern what he was dealing with. Meanwhile, as it turned out, the open ground of the necropolis was not yet adapted to this bizarre event, and the chapel, the only place where anything was happening, was locked down tight and clothed with darkness, interwoven only with the firelight.

Shaka stood some distance from the building, but depriving his sense of sight perfectly sensitized his hearing. So he caught not only some recitations, but also something, that no one would normally heard from among the tribal chants that were performed after these recitations. Namely, the sound of a blow to the body and a quiet moan of pain.

He felt... uncomfortable. Quite surprising, given the fact that the Fox Saint took part in all this by her own free will.

The songs finally stopped, so Shaka could clearly hear the voice of an old man:

Czas odemknąć drzwi kaplicy._ ("That's all, time's up. Open the door.)_

Zapalcie lampy i świécy. _(Set your candles and lamps aglow;")_

The door got unlocked and unclogged; the room emitted an intense, thick smoke. Gloomy young men emerged from this gray veil, carrying all sorts of things: some bowls, brushwood, boxes. There was apparently salt in one of the bowl, because the cultists – Shaka called them that in his thoughts – began to pour white powder in a certain order on a flat piece of land near the chapel, right next to the first tombstones of the knights. In this way they formed a fairly large circle, outside of which long torches were stuck. The interior of the circle was trampled and carefully smeared with some liquid in the colorless s-shaped lines, extending from the edges towards the center of the field, where a medium-sized pole was set. The old man, probably the same one whose voice Shaka heard, supervised their work with a silent presence.

Women, dressed in simple, carded dresses also left the room and began to carry various bowls, plates, jugs and cups around the circle, filled with food and drink. Loaves of bread, dumplings, rolls, cakes, a sea of liquors: all this stood in the vicinity of the ritual circle and the cold graves of the warriors of Athena, who died about two hundred years ago.

Virgo Saint "glanced" again towards the wide-open chapel. Smoke was escaping from there constantly, apparently still having the task of dulling the senses of the only person who did not leave the building. Between the veils of smoke he noticed the kneeling, collapsed figure of the Silver Fox Knight. Black hair hid her face, but it didn't take much imagination to guess what she looked like now.

"What's up, the party has already begun?" asked Mask, who appeared out of nowhere and, to the indignation of one of female-Eaters, he stole a few pastries from a platter.

"It looks that way," Shaka muttered.

"Liwia is not in the best condition," said Camus, who came down and stood at the right hand of the Virgo Knight.

"Helping countrymen, what a shit," growled the Knight of Cancer when he finally saw the smoke-wrapped girl inside the chapel. "She could rely on the status of a Sanctuary Guest and didn't give a fuck about."

"She could," replied the Grand Master, who had just joined his subordinates. "But unlike you, she has something like a sense of duty."

Deathmask snorted. He was about to say that if he hadn't had such a sense of duty, he would be sitting in a pub with Milo, Shura and Aldebaran, sipping beer and watching a replay from the Champions League. But even he knew that back-talking to his supervisor was not the best idea.

Suddenly, two Eaters began to walk towards the chapel. First they put out whatever was smoldering there, finally they took the dejected kneeling figure under their arms and forced to stand up. Liwia cooperated as much as she could when leaving the building, but the fact was that she was mainly pulled and pushed, rather than just being supported on the march. Now the knights could see her face, even despite the blindfolded eyes and the surrounding darkness.

"Beautiful. That's fucking beautiful. And I have to take part in this?!" Mask growled, pointing at the beaten and almost unconscious girl. "It's okay, patriotism and these things, right? They beat one of ours and I have to clap and whistle with joy?"

Shion didn't answer, but his clenched hands spoke for themselves.

Meanwhile, Eaters dragged Liwia to a ritual circle and one of them moved her carefully to the center of the field. Carefully because of the invisible signs, drawn with a mysterious liquid substance, and not because of the respect for their countryman, which could be deduced after this Eater brutally put her on her knees and how he unceremoniously restrained her hands with a rope and tied around pole, embedded in the ground.

"You couldn't be gentler, you son of a bitch?!" shouted Cancer Saint, but Eater didn't look up at him, though he had to know perfectly well what this guy in armor had in mind, even without knowing his language.

Shaka wondered why they hadn't put Fox Knight in the right place first and then painted the ground: it would be a lot easier. He decided that it was a matter of trying to get the girl to experience the longest possible exposure to hallucinogenic incense mixtures. And it actually worked, Virgo had no doubt. This meant that the ritual required a completely derealized victim and such are extremely valuable morsels for demons. If this whole event gets out of control, he will have to act quickly.

The man even felt something resembling a needle of regret. After all, she was a young girl. Also – the knight smiled a little – it was she who guessed rightly that Shaka is not an incarnation of the Buddha. It was enough to read a little to know that it would make no sense and yet most of the knights in the Sanctuary were convinced of this reincarnation. Virgo Saint, of course, did not deny it, but the fact that Silver Vulpecula added two and two together so quickly entertained him whenever he remembered it.

His thoughts were interrupted by Camus' whisper:

"Looks like they're starting."

Indeed, Eaters and female-Eaters stood around the circle, some of them picked up the musical instruments they brought, others took the lighted torches. The Shaman was behind the tied Liwia and at his feet lay an elongated package. He stepped forward and shouted into the night:

Czyscowe duszeczki! _("Purgatory's suffering souls!)_

W jakiejkolwiek świata stronie: _(Wherever in the world you be:)_

Czyli która w smole płonie, _(If in flaming tar you roll,)_

Czyli marznie na dnie rzeczki, _(Or in an icy river freeze,)_

Czyli dla dotkliwszej kary _(Or if, for greater punishment,)_

W surowym wszczepiona drewnie, _(Within a blazing log you're pent)_

Gdy ją w piecu gryzą żary, _(That cries and whistles as the flames)_

I piszczy, i płacze rzewnie; _(Gnaw at its slow-consuming frame,)_

Każda spieszcie do gromady! _(Come, hasten to our company!)_

Gromada niech się tu zbierze! _(– And now come closer, everyone –)_

Oto obchodzimy Dziady! _(Tonight we're celebrating Dziady!)_

Zstępujcie w święty przybytek; _(Come now, into God's holy home:)_

Jest jałmużna, są pacierze, _(Here is food, and drink and alms –)_

I jedzenie, i napitek. _(Here is prayer's most precious balm.")_

"It's some archaic version of Polish," Camus muttered. "I don't know if I would understand much of this. For now, it's probably an invitation for ghosts to a feast."

"I will say it only once," Grand Master had a strangely sharp tone of voice. "Until everything is still going on within some framework, I don't want any disturbing performances on your part. But if I find Liwia's life is in danger, you have to react immediately, is it clear?"

Three murmurs of "yes sir" answered him. Meanwhile the old man continued:

Podajcie mi garść kądzieli, _("Pour some incense in my hands,)_

Zapalam ją; wy z pośpiechem,_ (I light it now, and, hurry up –)_

Skoro płomyk w górę strzeli, _(As the shooting flame expands,)_

Pędźcie go z lekkim oddechem. _(Help it on with gentle puffs.)_

Niech się na powietrzu spali. _(Let it burn up in the air.)_

A jak suchy snop cierniowy _(Just as a burning sheaf of bracken)_

Płonąc miotłę ognia ciska, _(Tosses aloft its fiery glare,)_

Tak od potępieńca głowy_ (So does a rain of sparks fall crackling)_

Z trzaskiem sypią się iskrzyska._(Comet-like from the damned soul's hair.)_

Oto obchodzimy Dziady!_ (Tonight we're celebrating Dziady!")_

One of the Eaters handed a bunch of strings to the Guślarz, which an older man set fire with a nearby torch and threw it on the invisible rim of the wheel. At that moment, the circle dealt with soaring flames.

**[Inspiration: Żywiołak – Sol Invictus]**

The instruments began to play a disturbing melody, echoing among the graves. The fiery wheel rim reacted strangely to the music, matching with its tones.

Hejże ino dyna dyna. **(Now expedite, hurry, hurry)**

Przyjdź że ino. Przyjdź dziecino **(You come by now, come hither, child)**

Przyjdź że ino. Wyjrzyj ino **(You come by now and you appear)**

na niebie, na niebie **(in the sky, in the sky)**

The flame burst, spilling sparks around. Moreover, it slowly began to spread, violating the rim's area; an invisible substance was gently touched by the tongues of fire.

"Shit," Mask hissed. The knight thought that the rim itself would be on fire, not the field next to the binded, almost unconscious Liwia, whose eyes were blindfolded. "She won't break through!"

"Quiet," Grand Master growled; his restless eyes watched the ritual.

Shaka felt a presence. And in one second he made sure that it was not the fire that would be the biggest threat to the girl.

Weakened Liwia suddenly arched, tightening the tether until it creaked. Against the background of bright flames some jagged, ethereal shadow of terror appeared.

"Blondie...?" Deathmask glanced at the Virgo Knight.

"Noticed."

Meanwhile, Żerczynie and Żercy continued their singing and even calm Camus stated that their melody could awakened some primal instincts in ones hearts.

Szczodre gody! Słońca wstanie! **(Koliada, the feast of solstice!)**

Z wróżbami, z wróżbami **(Auguries, auguries!)**

My szczodraki rozdajemy **(We hand out pastries)**

garściami, garściami **(In large quantities, quantities)**

Hejże ino dyna dyna **(Now expedite, hurry, hurry)**

Swarożyc on bóg dziecina **(Swarozyc, a male God-child)**

Na niebie, na niebie **(in the sky, in the sky)**

The shadows thickened, and the path of fire increased the range. Drops of sweat on Liwia's face washed away the dirty crimson streaks. She jerked again and again, wiping her wrists to the blood. Her breath was fast, uneven, her lips parted. Deathmask thought that in a different situation he could take her behavior as... an outlet for pleasure.

Meanwhile, the melody went a tone higher, it began to be more intense, more aggressive. The Congregation' song accelerated the pulse, and the fires, with their twisting paths, dangerously approached Liwia; flame tongues were already dancing about half a meter from a kneeling girl, now constantly struggling. Even worse, her figure grew dark, as if shadows fell on her poor, sacrificed body.

"What we're doing?" Deathmask turned nervously towards the head of the Sanctuary.

Shion's eyes reflected fire glare, but his lips were silent.

"Grand Master?" Even in Camus's voice one could feel nervousness. If he too began to lose his cool, then the matter stood on the knife's edge.

Oj dworacy, dworacy! **(O, courtiers, courtiers)**

, The Shaman suddenly exclaimed and bent down to the elongated package at his feet.

Liwia screamed, and her body was bent by some unnatural power. The fire began to lick the ground right at her knees.

"Grand Master!" Cancer Saint fixed his eyes on his superior.

Shion raised a trembling, uncertain hand and said:

"On my mark..."

Shaka folded his hands in "abhaja mudra" gesture, preparing to attack.

…nie chodźta po nocy… **(do not wonder around at night)**

What Guślarz unwrapped from a material turned out to be an old, full of ornaments, ceremonial double-edged sword. The old man grabbed the handle and walked to the very line of the infernal circle. He pointed the blade to the girl's back.

…a bo wam ta choineczka… **(or this little Christmas tree)**

Liwia's body arched, shadows clung to her breasts, and her face showed a combination of painful contraction and extraordinary pleasure. Fire whipped her thighs.

"We have to act, damn it!"

"Wait!"

"Grand Master, she will die..."

The blade in the Shaman's hands rose and a throw occurred. The metal flew towards Liwia.

Shaka gathered a luminous power between his fingers, ready for immediate release.

Shion shouted:

"Now... STOOOP!"

…powybija oczy! **(will easily gouge out your eyes!)**

Several things happened at once. Suddenly suspended knights almost fell, wanting to stop their momentum. The ceremonial sword stuck right behind Liwia's back, centimeters from a wooden stake and cords with which her hands were tied up. The twitching power that emanated from it was amazing. The girl's face unexpectedly was adorned with an bloodthirsty, frightening smile.

The vibrational power of the sword cut the bonds and the Polish girl spread her arms free. The flames stopped and fell to the ground like a scolded dog.

"What the...?" Mask blinked in disbelief, still raising his hand in unfinished attack.

Grand Master began to breathe again. The singing continued.

Dziady, duchy, rody nasze prosimy, prosimy **(We ask spirits, our clans and forefathers, forefathers)**

Do wieczerzy, miejsca, ognie palimy, palimy **(As we dine, we leave empty spots, light the hearths, light the hearths)**

When Liwia, still smiling diabolically, got up from her knees and reached for the sword, the shadows scattered sideways, seeking the exit from the circle. Salt kept them in place, so it ended in a panicky tangle. When the blade was pulled out of the ground, the fire from within the circle was immediately absorbed by the metal of the weapon, glowing it like a hellish pupil.

The shadows made a squeak, chilling sound of fear. The Eaters and female-Eaters' singing and playing continued, uninterrupted. Liwia, with fluttering ends of blindfold, made a wheel with the sword and launched her attack, becoming the Fire Dancer.

"Phew... Relax, Blondie. You too, Chilly." Mask followed Silver's turnovers and cuts with delight. "She coped without our help."

"Do not lower your guard," Shaka replied coldly, and the three of them glanced at him. "Do you not feel that this is not the strength of the Athena's Knight?"

It was true: what emanated from Liwia was not the cosmo flame they knew. This force was alien, powerful. And they basically didn't know its' motivation. For now, they could only wait.

Shadows were fading with an inhuman scream under the blows of Liwia's sword. Despite her blindfolded eyes, she swirled in a circle of fire without losing steps of this strange dance and always finding the right rhythm. There were less and less dark etheric beings, finally the last streaks of blackness dissolved by the power of the Dancer, and the music and singing ceased. The ritual of freeing the ancestors' spirits was over.

Liwia was standing in a deserted field, as if someone had taken out batteries from her. The head hung, the hand holding the sword loosened and the weapon slapped the ground. Eaters started to extinguish torches in the circle, while the Shaman raised his hands to the sky and shouted:

Przeszła północ… _("Midnight is past[…])_

Skończona straszna ofiara! _(The gloomy sacrifice is o'er.)_

Teraz wszystkie dusze razem, _(Now each and every soul I call)_

Wszystkie i każdą z osobna, _(Without distinction, one and all,)_

Ostatnim wołam rozkazem! _(With this my final incantation.)_

Dla was ta biesiada drobna; _(For you, these final ministrations,)_

Bierzcie, czego której braknie, _(Take whatever you may need;)_

Która pragnie, która łaknie. _(What will slake you, what will feed.")_

Camus translated as much as he could and then silence fell. At first, nothing happened, but after a while, slightly away from the group, Shaka felt someone's presence. The sight substitute allowed him to capture the delicate outlines of human figures.

"They really came. Incredible," Grand Master whispered, staring at the rows of foggy figures.

"Souls with blood familiar! Speak! What is the future of our country?" the Shaman thundered, turning to the ghosts. Those, however, stood still and mute. In grave silence. And this silence was suddenly pierced by the sound, which not only didn't bring calm, but even caused much greater horror.

Liwia was laughing. The dreadful giggle echoed. The girl raised her head and, smiling furiously, whispered:

Nieznajomym ogniem pałam. _("[…]I burn with unfamiliar flame[...]")_

It wasn't her voice.

"Silence!" growled the Guślarz and turned again to the ghosts of ancestors. "Souls with blood familiar! Speak! What is the fu..."

His words drowned in Liwia's chuckle. The confused old man and the rest of the Congregation looked at the female warrior. Maybe it was because of the deforming everything darkness, but it seemed like her hair took on a reddish shade.

"I don't think this is standard," Mask muttered as soon as Camus translated Liwia's words and Shion had to agree with him. Something was wrong.

It was. Liwia, still with the blindfold on her eyes, turned her head towards the knights of Athena and said in a terribly strange voice:

Wstaną i zginą raz drugi… ("They will die again, after they rise…)

A po ich przodkach przejdą zapomnienia pługi, (And through their ancestors plows of oblivion will pass,)

I stokrocie się rozwiną (And daisies will grow)

Na krwawym umarłych stepie; (On the bloody dead steppe;)

Żywi się pomieszają z umarłymi, (The living will stir with the dead,)

I nikt ich nie rozbroni. (And nobody will split them.)

I cóż!… czy płakać? (And what to do!... Mourning?)

Tam wrony zaczynają krakać (There crows begin to croaking)

I wilcy gryzą śpiące na oszczepie (And wolves bite sleeping on spear)

Ciała rycerzy. (Knights' bodies.")

Camus froze. He stammered; he couldn't render everything, his knowledge of Polish was not enough to translate Liwia's entire statement, but enough to know that the Silver Knight of Fox was talking to them, not to her compatriots.

"Why are you remaining silent?!" The Shaman glared at the ghoul row. He panicked. He even wanted to approach Liwia because he apparently accused her of this strange ghosts behavior, but he was afraid. It wasn't a teenager now. It was a vessel filled with unknown power.

Ghosts remained silent. But in an instant their ghostly hands rose and pointed to one place. They pointed Liwia.

The girl swayed, smiled ominously and said in a strange, inspired voice:

Za trzy dni wszystkiemu kres, ("In three days everything will end,)

Walka i zgon! Anioł i bies! (The angel and the devil! Fight to death!)

Więc za trzy dni noc płomieni (So in three days a night of flames)

I noc okropności mściwa (And the night of atrocity vindictive)

I wiek haraczu… (And extortion age...)

Wielu rycerzy od piorunów zginie, wielu od miecza. (Many knights from thunder will die, many from the sword.)

Wódz dwie głowy mieć będzie, jedna człowiecza, (The leader will have two heads, one: human from this world,)

Drugą głowę piekielną wódz mieć będzie. (Another a hellish head the leader will have.)

Ogień, nim we łzach ostygnie, (Fire, before it cools down in tears,)

Dwanaście domów podźwignie. (Could twelve houses lifts.)

Lecz już lud wyrżnięty i nastaje burza. (But people are slaughtered and a storm will begin.)

Z mroku przyjdzie wódz, już troje wyrusza; (From darkness leader came, the three after him;)

Teraz w dwanaście pustych kamieni, (Now in twelve empty stones,)

Domy odmieni. (Changes houses at once.)

Ja z ostatnimi zostanę żywa, (I will stay alive with the last ones,)

Ostatnia z czerwoną pochodnią (Last one with a red torch in hand)

I zakocham się w smutku, w popiołach, (And I will fall in love with ashes and sadness,)

A Ziemia będzie przechodnią, (And the Earth will be a passerby land,)

Swatami zaś Sale o wiecznych słojach, (And as a matchmakers: Sal trees that are timeless,)

A domem moim stos rycerzy. (And as my house: a knights' pile.)

Kto konając we mnie uwierzy, (Who will believe in me when time to die,)

Skona spokojny; (He will die with relieve;)

Ja go zemszczę lepiej od ognia i wojny, (I will avenge him better than war and flames' lit,)

Lepiej niż sto tysięcy wroga, (Better than an enemy's squad)

Lepiej od boga… (Better than god...")

Camus and Mask were staring at Liwia, eyes wide. Shaka did not understand anything from the girl's statement, but despite this, and maybe thanks to this, he drew attention to several other things. First, the Shaman, Eaters and female-Eaters stood completely dumbfounded; their eyes were not fixed on the prophetic countryman all the time, but were also focused on Saints. So there was no doubt that the Silver Fox Knight had predicted the future of Athena's warriors. This, moreover, was confirmed by the pale face of Camus; Shaka has never seen him like this before.

Secondly, Virgo "glanced" towards the gathered spirits. At first he did not pay attention to it, but now some small things, some elements caught his substitute for eyesight. The longer he looked, the longer he focused on the spirits, the more details he distinguished from the veils white fog from which the ghosts were weaved. He noticed, namely, some pieces of armor, and they were not part of the casual armors of the olden days.

Should he be surprised? They were standing at the Knights Cemetery; despite the assurances of the Congregation, it had to have a decisive influence on the course of the ritual. So Shaka remained calm.

Until one of the etheric arrivals exceptionally caught his attention. Virgo's knight began to analyze the spirit and soon felt something he hadn't felt for a long time, something he hadn't experienced since his early childhood.

Shaka felt fear.

Same long hair, same posture, same armor. And the same closed eyes.

Virgo's knight was looking at himself.

And this other Shaka was smiling warmly at him.

Meanwhile, Liwia finished prophesying. The spirits of the ancestors stood for a while in the silent stupor, until they finally dispersed in the wind and blended into the darkness of the night. Shaka, as if awaken, turned to the Grand Master. Shion's face indicated, that he could see the same thing as him. After a few seconds Shion turned his eyes away from the place where the apparitions were, in time to see Liwia's limp body fall to the ground and twitching in convulsions.

While Shaka remained in place, trying to figure out what he actually saw, the other two knights and the Grand Master ran to the girl, ripped the blindfold from her eyes and tried to wake her up. However, the seizure did not stop.

"Shaka. Shaka, god damn it!" The Grand Master shouted. "You need invitation, or what?!"

Virgo's knight came to the rest with confuse. Shion had never spoken to him like this before. After all, the Grand Master must have known that he did not stand there admiring the landscape.

"I can't heal," he said at the beginning, kneeling beside the Silver Vulpecula Knight.

"But you can calm her mentally. Do it."

The blond man touched the girl's temple, focused his cosmo and began to send soothing waves straight to her brain. Slowly the quivering body calmed down and finally became still enough to look more like someone sleeping than the victim of possession.

The Grand Master sighed.

"Camus: you will come with me to the Congregation and translate. I want the prophecy from them in writing. Because you probably didn't understand everything to the letter, did you?"

"No, Grand Master," answered Aquarius. He was still pale. "But as much as I understood is enough to take it all seriously."

Shion nodded.

"Deathmask: you'll stay here. You have to check, inch by inch, whether the veil between the worlds has been broken or weakened. I want a report in the morning."

Cancer wasn't very happy, but he knew he was the most competent to settle the matter. He scratched behind his ear and said:

"What about Liwia? Maybe I should take her to Dite first? We don't know what they used to drugged her..."

"No." The Grand Master's voice was harsh and firm. "Shaka will look after her. If her condition become worse, then Aphrodite or Aiolia would be useful. He also has the gift of healing, though you probably didn't know that, as I know you. Is everything clear?"

They confirmed, although Shaka, in truth, did not quite know what to do. He took the girl in his arms and started walking toward the Zodiac Houses. She weighed as much as a feather.

"For pity's sake, take her to her house, it will be closer." The Grand Master's voice was still trembling with nerves. It seemed that he was taking the whole event very hard. He pointed at nearby buildings. "There, first cottage from the left, with geraniums on the windowsills. You know what geraniums are, or not?"

"I know," Shaka said grimly and started walking in the pointed direction. After a moment, he disappeared from their sight.

"Huh, shit, but he got hit," Mask laughed and, without waiting to get reprimanded too, he made his way through the Gate of Hades to explore the fragility of the interworld border.

"Are you all right, Grand Master?" asked Camus, apparently concerned about the strange behavior of his superior.

"Yes. Let's go to the Congregation, we need to talk to them seriously," the man replied, but he couldn't stop thinking about what he saw. About the ghosts who came to the meeting. And about this, whether Shaka understood who he actually saw. Shion was harsh on him, wanting to cover it all up, forced him to change a rails of his thoughts. But the truth was also that he really got angry at the Virgo Saint. Will the guard of the Sixth Palace be even more unapproachable, even more inhuman in this cycle than it was last time? Bah, even care less for others than Cancer! Deathmask was obviously concerned about the girl's health, and he usually doesn't care much about anything!

Shion sighed. Bullshit. He idealized the years of his youth and that's all. Then, at the beginning, they were also not doing well. Who got along with Virgo Knight well, anyway? And yet…

Enough. He had now other worries. This prophecy needs to be handled as soon as possible, because he had a feeling that the fate of the entire Sanctuary would depend on it.

* * *

The girl's hand fell from her torso, dangled and swung to the rhythm of the steps. The houses of knights and other inhabitants of the Sanctuary appeared on the horizon, so Shaka began to look for those damned geraniums. Without a problem he found furthest to the left, simple cottage, corresponding to the description. He pressed the handle with his elbow.

Closed.

Shaka was not the best at solving everyday problems. He usually left it to others, devoting himself to things of higher caliber. And there you go.

He watched too little movies (basically he doesn't watch them at all) and did not enough associated with people (basically he does it hardly ever) to know that the keys were normally placed under the doormat or flower pot on the windowsill. The blonde man simply focused a little cosmo and destroyed the entire lock, almost pulling it out of the wood. The door was open.

After what Shaka had seen as he was passing through the fifth Zodiac Palace, he expected Aiolia's peer to have a similar attitude to tidiness. Meanwhile the cottage was neat and clean. The dishes stood in a row on the kitchen counter, the clothes were folded into cubes, the chest with Silver Fox Armor stood next to the neatly made bed.

He put the girl on the bed, wondering what to do next. He made sure that she was breathing and brushed aside unruly black strands from her face that had escaped from the braid's tyranny; he looked at the bloodied, sooted face.

He wondered if it was worth it, eventually she did not achieve the goal, did not find the answer, what could help her country. At the same time, he had to appreciate the very fact of her efforts: he too once wanted to save his homeland, he wanted to understand why so many beings around him suffer. Why so many can't get out of the relentless wheel of misery.

He did not save them, but he understood the reason for despair. At least he got something.

He shook himself, got up, almost silently, found a towel in the bathroom, filled a bowl with water and returned to the girl. He tried to be gentle, thinking that this was the "looking after" that the Grand Master had asked him to do. "Asked," he snorted in his thoughts.

"A... smita?" she murmured indistinctly, reacting to touch.

Shaka stopped his hand, completely surprised. "Asmita" was a Buddhist term, also a name, given in India, so Virgo did not quite understand what the girl could had in mind. On the other hand: he did not speak Polish at all, maybe in her native language this word also meant something.

"Jai ho, Asmita..." The girl suddenly grabbed his hand with trembling fingers, and with the other hand reached for blonde strands. Her unconscious gaze slid over the knight's face, and a gentle smile crept into the wounded lips. "Jai ho..."

She lost consciousness again, her fingers flew through his blond hair and hand fell limply to the bed.

Shaka had no idea how to deal with this. Because now it was definitely in Hindi. The wording, especially nowadays, had many meanings, but the girl was probably talking about some "victory." Taking him for someone else. It was still a foretelling the future, or maybe Fox Saint was experiencing a reminiscence?

He couldn't figure it out and it upset him immensely. He soaked the towel again, squeezed out excess of water and put it on her face.

It was going to be a long night.


	8. The angel and the devil

**The angel and the devil**

_Flutter of feathers in the wind. _

_"Deaaaath!", dozens of throats tore the air bathed in the setting sun. Horses' hooves beat the ground like hammers._

_Aiakos stood before them. One of the Three Judges surrounded himself with terrified subordinates and waited with a smile. His black wings. Her white wings. Flutter. Fury. Charge._

_"Deaaaath!", she screamed and the sound melted into the others' screams. They became one._

_Space swarmed with all-seeing eyes. Boiling blood, hooves crushing the ground._

_"Deaaaath!"_

* * *

She jerked up, dropping a striped blanket onto the floor. She took a deep breath panicking, trying to figure out who she was, where she was and what the hell. She managed to answer the first question, when the spasm in her stomach showed appropriate priority. She fell more than left the bed and ran half-bent. Fortunately, body memory was activated: although she couldn't explain to herself yet, that she was in her flat, her feet themselves found their way to the bathroom.

Flashes of memories began to return as she was rinsing her mouth and doing self-clean up. Undoubtedly, the mirror was huge aid in this matter. There were no bruises yet, but Liwia knew exactly where they would appear, how big they would be, and even could guessed their colors. The lip above the upper left corner of the mouth was cut and the wound, due to the recent act of puking, opened, burning mercilessly. Bloody abrasions on her wrists pinched in contact with water, and red skin shone from underneath her burned trousers.

The price of patriotism.

Liwia also realized that her arms were no longer covered by this disgusting wolf fur. She hoped that it burned during the ritual.

Girl glanced again at the reflection in the mirror; despite whole event she looked quite good and, given the circumstances, relatively clean. Someone had to have pity on her before she did post-vomited ablution.

She rolled out of the bathroom and hit the adjacent wall with her shoulder. Some vague images, sounds, words were returning, but it made her nauseous again, so Liwia decided to sleep a little longer before she will investigate about the course and result of the ritual and trying to figure out who brought her here.

However, reality did not like to wait and the answer to the last question came unexpectedly quickly.

The girl screamed in fear. On the floor of the corridor sat cross-legged Shaka.

"Have you seen a ghost?" the man asked.

Hehe. That was funny. And Virgo Knight stated, that he had to be very tired since he was amused by his own jokes.

Liwia breathed, coming back to life. She had no idea what the blond man was doing in her cottage. And how she might not have noticed him as she rolled towards the bathroom. Finally, she presumed that Shaka was one of those assistant knights mentioned by the Grand Master. When she thought about it, it seemed an understandable choice: if the Virgo Saint really was able to mentally move between different dimensions, communing with the dead people should not spooked him.

What could spook him away? Such Nosferatu at Shaka's sight would shit himself with fear.

Instinctively, she pulled on her stained with blood, soot and dirt shirt; if the visual effect was to improve because of this, she suffered a disgraceful defeat.

"Was it that bad?" she asked in a harsh voice. Her throat was dry as pepper.

Virgo relaxed his posture a bit, leaving meditation mode.

"Depends on what you wanted to achieve."

Fucking Sphinx.

"Ghosts showed up?" The girl didn't have the strength to stand any longer, so she pulled a stool for herself, throwing shopping bags off it.

"Yes."

Liwia nodded, satisfied. She glanced at the watch hanging in the kitchen. She blinked. It was ten to four. In the afternoon.

"I slept so long?"

He didn't find this question worth answering.

She sighed. If she wasn't wrong in her suspicions, Shaka must have been here all the time. And look after her.

She got up from the stool and with drunken steps walked to the kitchen. She switched on the gas, set the kettle and took a tea can out of the cabinet. Houses of the minor knights were not equipped with refrigerators, so Liwia had only hard-spoiling snacks. Besides, if she proposed beef sausages, she would already be dead. She put some cookies on a plate, cut two apples from the Rodorio's orchard into quarters, and poured some water into the cup, praying that it would be the right temperature.

She pushed the only chair away from the small table and returned to the corridor. She didn't even hear when Virgo Knight rose from the floor and took a step toward the door. He was quieter than a cat.

"Are you leaving?" she asked in astonishment.

He shrugged.

"It seems that you are alive."

He wanted to go when the girl reached out to stop him. It's good that she withdrew her hand in time. Aiolia probably was still healing his shoulder, she had to remember about that.

"Wait, please," she said instead. "You've probably been sitting here very long. I don't have much food, but I made tea."

He turned his closed eyelids to her. His face expressed nothing.

"There is no need. I only followed the Grand Master's order."

Well, now she will leave him alone and he will finally be able to rest in Sixth Temple, drink a real...

"I brewed the Iron Goddess of Mercy."

It was a low blow.

"I didn't know that anyone but Mu has access to good Chinese tea," he said rather wryly, but basically he just played for time. Such a beverage couldn't be wasted. Even if it wasn't prepared in accordance to tea-art, which Shaka guessing in this case. The girl smiled wanly.

"I'm a Sanctuary Guest, I have to learn from the best, so that's what I do. Please, have a seat."

He hesitated a moment longer, but eventually walked with stiff steps into the kitchen and sat on the chair moved for him. The girl pulled herself a stool, then handed the blonde a navy blue mug with round bright patterns. The man knew by smell that Silver was telling the truth: it was a Tie Guan Yin Oolong.

"From Bolesławiec," she explained with a note of pride, pointing to the cup. "That's a well-known manufacture in Poland..."

_Like he cares, get over it_, she thought and cut the sentence.

"Thank you," he murmured, clearly not used to saying the word to someone other than Mu.

He took a sip. It wasn't the tea that the Aries Saint made, of course, but he had to admit that the girl didn't kill it. Or after so many hours he was simply able to boast of every hot drink.

"So," she said, taking the cookie from the plate, "what happened yesterday?"

He was silent for a moment.

"You started prophesying."

The ticking of the kitchen watch like a slow giggle.

"What?" Liwia didn't bring a cookie to her mouth. "How it could..? But the ghosts..."

"They did not say a word." Shaka took a sip of his tea and thought back to last night. "Only pointed at you."

The girl was shocked.

"It has never happened, always..." She shook her head, which made it more painful. "I don't understand, but the main thing is that the effort was not wasted and a prophecy was gained. It is a pity that Guślarz doesn't speak English, he could tell if he was pleased."

"He didn't have to say anything, I know he wasn't," Shaka replied, watching the girl's face by his substitute of sight. She looked worse and worse. If he had some satisfaction at the beginning by dosing her information, now he regretted it a little. After all, if she feels unwell, he will have to sit here for another few hours.

"Why?" she asked quietly. She was pale.

The man finally understood that it wasn't a matter of being surprised by the strange course of the ritual. The girl must have thought that her homeland would be destroyed. That... was inappropriate and impolite of him.

"You didn't foretell for your countrymen. You predicted the future of the Saints."

Well, now it was really comforting. Knight of Fox froze. The cookie fell out of a shaking hand.

"What..." The voice shook with emotion, "What did I predict? Shaka, tell me..."

"I do not speak Polish. And Camus didn't share with the little he understood."

The girl got up, picked up the lying cookie with uncertain fingers and set it aside. She took a glass and poured herself a water. Virgo just waited for her to fall over.

Leaning heavily on the counter, she was silent.

"Where is the Congregation?" she finally asked in a serious tone.

"The Grand Master and Aquarius were to talk to them. I don't know the result."

Her heart was beating very loudly, he could hear it more clearly than the ticking of the kitchen clock.

"You are afraid." That was a statement.

And she wasn't going to answer statements.

"Each of your vision announced misfortune?"

"That's not the point," she murmured and set her empty glass on the table. She has felt sick again. "My country will not get a prophecy, although it is at a crossroads. And if the spirits pointed at me, probably they marked me as theirs deputy. So the prophecy for the Sanctuary may be a prophecy affecting not only knights, but also the whole world, including Poland. That's why the ancestors told the Congregation to go to Greece. I see no other option."

She sank back onto the stool and buried her face in her hands. She felt bad. The weight of the heard words did its job. And the weight of the words spoken yesterday was yet to be revealed.

"I repeat the question, knight." Shaka's voice was cold, which sobered the girl in a second. "Did each of your visions announced misfortune?"

She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to recall the old revelations.

"No," she said, surprised. Maybe the situation wasn't that bad. "Not every was also negative or unpleasant. After all, one of them showed me you."

Oh shit. She really said that.

"The thing is that they always announce something significant, time for important decisions and… yeah."

Well, how smooth. Applause. Curtain.

Shaka, she could sworn, almost smiled. But no, it's impossible. In that case, he would have a sense of humor.

She attempted to mask awkwardness.

"And when did Camus learn Polish? He didn't tell me anything."

"Because he knows only written."

Oh. My. God.

She laughed and immediately regretted it. She has felt blood from a cut lip, and her whole face has protested with throbbing pain.

"Ouch. I knew you were a dangerous man, but I had no idea that you're killing by your sense of humor."

He did not comment. But it was obvious that he has something to say.

"The vision you mentioned..." Shaka set almost empty cup on the counter and stared at her with his cosmic substitute for sight. "What color was the item I held?"

Liwia looked sideways, unable to withstand the intensity of contact. Virgo Knight's cosmo had a strange effect on her, she didn't use to feel that way with any other Athenian warrior. And now she had to focus. She was silent for a moment, then said:

"I'm not sure, it's been a few years now. The corals were probably natural, brown or golden, I don't know. But I think some of them were darker, sort of purple. Probably a play of light or something."

"It wasn't a play of light," he said, and Liwia froze because of confidence in his voice. "And that weren't corals."

He said nothing more, lost in his own thoughts. The man just realized that the girl was telling the truth. Or at least she predicted the possibility of real events. He has suspected that Fox Knight has precognitive abilities when she told him about the vision that day in the Virgo Temple, but he was hoping that it was only announcement for meeting the inhabitants of the Sanctuary. It wasn't.

"Do you know what that means?" Liwia watched the Golden Knight carefully.

"I suspect," he said, "but I need to know more details. Especially those related to specify time and place."

The girl, however, shook her head.

"It doesn't work that way, visions aren't always… how to explain it... um, panoramic." She scratched her head. "I think I saw some leaves or grass, so maybe it wasn't Sanctuary, but I can't remember anything else, I'm sorry. Can you tell me..."

"First I must consult it with the Grand Master," said the man. "To make sure if I read the signs correctly."

"I understand." She was tempted to ask for clarification, but she decided to restrain. For now, she had more urgent problems, and anyway, self-control was something that the Virgo Knight will probably appreciate. "If I can help in any way, I'll be available."

He was silent. But again, as if he were about to shoot her with a question.

"What can you tell me about Asmita?"

She blinked. Is this some kind of a game show? Because she has probably just lost in this strange competition.

"About what?"

He was still perfectly calm.

"It's a name. Hindu. You talked about him when I brought you here."

She shrugged.

"I don't know anyone with that name, so what could I say?" she replied and felt that Shaka is piercing her with his spectral gaze. She added, so he could finally get off her: "You and your students are the only Hindu I know. Maybe I just mumbled in my sleep."

"That would be very interesting mumbling," he said in a slightly ironic tone. "Because you spoke to this Asmita in Hindi, talking about some victory."

She sighed, tired.

"I don't know Hindi, maybe a few terms, that's all. God, did I talk much more that night?"

"A little."

"Still in your native? Or maybe in Vietnamese?"

"In English."

"Finish me off."

"In the morning you said you were cold."

The girl relaxed.

"At least that makes sense."

"And then you said my name."

That much left from this sense.

"But I didn't even know you were here!" she said, not even surprised, but rather tired of herself. She buried her face in hands. "Something else?"

"The last thing you said was Flowers of the Salas have withered."

The girl started giggling. But it hurt so she stopped.

"In Paris, the best chestnuts are on the Pigalle square."

"I do not understand." Shaka's tone of voice was dead serious.

"Ah, nothing, it just sounds like some secret slogan, just like this quote from the Polish TV show. I don't even understand what kind or whose those flowers are."

"Sala. Salas are trees," Shaka muttered, realizing that the girl had absolutely no idea what she had spoken that night. A pity, because the last sentence certainly concerned his person.

Only last one?

He took a sip of the drink, put down the empty cup and said, getting up:

"The Grand Master will come here as soon as he receives the words of the prophecy. Thank you for the tea."

He started walking toward the corridor.

"It's you I have to thank," Fox Knight's words caught up him. "For looking after me and listening to all this nonsense. I know this is not the best way to spend time."

Virgo didn't even turn his head.

"I carried out the Grand Master's order. Nothing more."

"It doesn't matter."

_How: doesn't matter?_ he thought, critically assessing the girl's reasoning ability. As if she heard him.

"It's just the cause. Maybe very important for you, but for me the effect counts. I live and feel good, so I really appreciate. Know that my door will be always open for you."

"It will be open for everyone because I broke the lock," he said and walked out of the building, leaving Liwia completely stupefied, with a slightly twitching corner of her mouth.

* * *

"So we're fucked," summed up Mask.

Of all the Golden Knights gathered in the Grand Master's Chamber, only he was smiling. Everyone else made murmurs of concern. Crumpled in hands papers with Liwia's handwritten translation rustled between words.

"If you have already exhausted your interpretive deposits, you can leave now, Mephisto," the Grand Master snapped.

"Who?" Aiolia asked, but his older brother gave him a blow to the side, silencing the boy.

"Wait a moment, I'm reading it correctly? We have only two days to think about what's going on with this poem?" Aphrodite brought page closer to his face, as if it could help him understand the text in any way.

"Probably," said Camus. "It is not clear whether the first prophecy, the one about _plows of oblivion_, will not have priority in time, but, personally, I don't think so."

"I agree with Camus." Mu leaned against one of the walls. The crimson window curtain nudged his shin pads in the wind. "The first part looks like some general vision and there is more about our ancestors or maybe our predecessors, heroes of the previous Holy War, than about us. I think we only got the first verse directly."

Shion looked at his student with pride. He was thinking very similarly, because he had the knowledge of this forgotten generation. So how can he tell them that the cycles, though not identical, are so convergent? With Dohko they promised themselves, that they would not suggest anything, would not burden them with the fate of their appallingly similar predecessors. They will not close their actions in a cage of destiny, they will not push them to perdition in battle. And they would certainly lose themselves if they knew what their predecessors looked like. And what death they died.

No. They can't find out.

"Oh, sweet, so we've got a verse, I'll quote, _They will die again, after they rise…_?" Mask, despite dissatisfaction with the fact of demythologized his real name, of course remained in the chamber. "Well, that's wonderful, is not enough that we will die, no, we must been revived, and then once again to the sand, eh?"

"Don't you think it might be about the Hades' Specters?"

Everyone's eyes fell on Saga, standing the furthest from the group. The man looked tired; his red eyes wandered through the text.

"Perhaps," eagerly nodded Shura, stiff as always. "Undead Specters are, therefore, theoretically, get up and die, die and get up many times they can."

"But further there is: _And through their ancestors plows of oblivion will pass_. Then it would be about the ancestors of the Specters, or what, because I really don't get it?" Aiolia scratched his head, making real artistic disorder on it.

"Maybe _their_ was accented by looking at you?" asked Aiolos, glancing at Shaka, who was still silent.

"She turned her head in our direction from the very beginning. As for the gaze accents, it's hard to say, because her eyes were blindfolded," he replied with a note of irony in his voice.

Oh, Buddha, he expected something not very positive, but the words she uttered... During the conversation with her a few hours ago the Virgo Knight confirmed that the girl was a real medium. And now they interpret their fate and the fate of the entire upcoming Holy War, although half of the Golds does not really believes in foretelling the future after getting drugged with herbs.

"Okay, so the first part we've managed to discussed in a way: it used to be bloody, and the Specters will be a nuisance," said Milo. He had a furrowed brow and a serious expression on his face. It was only during the meeting that he learned about a ritual, that had been performed the previous night, a ritual after which the girl, who was close to him, was still healing. He would rather be there by her side.

His index finger tapped the second, longer text on the crumpled piece of paper.

"But the most important thing for us is to foresee what will happen the day after tomorrow. Because, does it just seem to me, or it predict an imminent outbreak of the Holy War? As if the apocalypse is about to begin, and, as we know, Athena isn't ready to fight.

"Yeah. And we will die from lightning and melee weapons, this is twisted as hell," Pisces Saint snarled, stepping impatiently from foot to foot.

"It will take place rather during this _extortion age_, whatever that means. And I wouldn't take the words so literally, Dite." Mu ran his fingers through his lavender hair. "It could just mean that many knights would die by cosmo attacks."

"That sounds so much better, thanks, dude" the beautiful warrior muttered in reply.

"_The angel and the devil..._ I wonder who this is all about," said Aiolos. "Good and Evil will fight each other, we know so much. Also this two-headed leader is repeating. Something like Castor and Pollux in a chimeric version."

"They might be gods entering the human body as well," Saga replied, turning to Sagittarius. "Hades, of course, would also suit. Especially since in the later verse _From darkness leader came_."

"We're still guessing. At least _twelve houses_ is as clear as day," Aiolia said, pleased. "I only wonder what this mentioned _fire_ is, because it will probably be on our side."

"There are several knights using this element," said the Grand Master. "Which still gives no certainty that it is a person."

"Even so, the Sanctuary will become empty," Aquarius's soft voice could be heard. "As if this second blow would come after a bloody victory."

"If all this is true, then Liwia will remain with the last survivors, although perhaps the poor fate awaits her, considering these sorrows and ashes later in the prophecy." The Knight of the Ram began to close the ajar windows when the whistling wind forced papers the dance.

"Was foretelling this girl, forget we can't. About her it doesn't have to be, although grammatical form it assumes," Capricorn raised a topic.

"In that one I would be sure it was about her," Shaka muttered. Those who were waiting to develop such thought had to be disappointed.

The Grand Master looked at the Virgo Knight.

"These _Sal trees that are timeless_... It's obvious that something will happen in your Temple, Shaka."

The blond man nodded. Flowers of the Salas have withered. Flowers of the Salas have withered...

"And why is that?" The young Knight of the Lion was looking at both men with uncomprehending gaze.

"Salas or sal trees are sacred in Buddhism," the Grand Master explained, and as if he did not explain anything, for which Shaka was extremely grateful. Many Golden Saints didn't have the slightest idea that near his Zodiac House was a garden hidden under rocks and overhangs. Place of his deepest meditations. It would cease to be like that if everyone started their pilgrimages there.

"Looking at the end of the prophecy one thing is certain: it's better not to mess with our sweet Pole," summed up Mask, smiling from ear to ear, as if he had just told a kind of mother-in-law's joke. "Although we knew it without any stupid predictions. Come on, it's just the weed talkin' or nice beating result. If I were in her state I would quote Manchuria's hymn! Hey, there is such country as Manchuria, right?"

"Do you know her middle name?"

Everyone glanced at the only person who hadn't said a word so far, and whose presence was completely forgotten. Which could have been funny considering Aldebaran's dimensions.

"Kasandra. Her middle name is Kasandra. Ring any bells?" Taurus's grim tone of voice was a surprise to everyone. "If we disregard what she has predicted, we can end up like Troy."

"And is it certain that if we don't, we will avoid its fate?" asked Cancer, folding his arms and thus becoming a parody of Aldebaran's combat stance.

"No. But I believe her anyway," said Taurus.

"Me too," Milo added. "Let's treat it as an advantage and see what happens."

"Do we have a plan, Grand Master?" Aiolos asked, putting the prophecy card on the marble windowsill.

Shion was silent for some time.

"I'll try to find a solution. A solution for the hard times which occurred," he said finally, sighing. "For now, I will order general mobilization of the Sanctuary. The day after tomorrow, everyone is to be in positions, and let patrols check each corner tightly. Aiolos, Saga-" here he turned towards the two oldest subordinates, "-tomorrow at midnight I'm expecting you in my chamber. That's it, thank you all for your help. You can dismissed. Shaka, please stay."

One by one the golden silhouettes were disappearing behind the massive door of the Grand Master's Chamber, when Virgo Knight approached the throne of the Sanctuary's superior. Shion, however, only put his hand on the armrest; he didn't sit down.

"After the ritual, I was too harsh for you," said the Grand Master when the door had closed. "Forgive me. You took good care of Liwia. When we visited her with Camus today, she was in a pretty good shape."

"No need to apologize. I am glad if I managed to be useful," the blond man replied, slightly bowing his head.

For now, he was satisfied, although the most difficult conversation was yet to take place. However he waited patiently, sensing that the superior did not invite him only for the purpose of apology.

Shion pulled his hand away from the polished armrest, took off the winged helmet of the Sanctuary's Superior and put it on the seat. He stared at the scarlet metal, which was reflecting candlelight glimmers. Finally, he waved his hand up; a rainbow crystal wall separated them from the throne. The view of the helmet on the other side was collapsing in geometric lines.

"Once I wandered to an extremely nasty place, Shaka. To a valley where there is no such thing as hope. To the place of our death. Do you know what will happen if we fall?"

Virgo raised his eyebrows. Doubt? Fear? Now, on the eve of the Holy War's outbreak?

No... it's not that.

"Camus would probably survive the longest," the Grand Master laughed, then puffed and drew an irregular circle with his finger on the surface of the magic wall. The helmet, symbol of his position, showed through the center of the ring. Shion looked away, glancing at his subordinate. "A huge ice-covered lake. Snow so cold that you stop not only to feel anything, but above all to remember, desire, believe. Hell for traitors, that's what is waiting for all Athena knights. Isn't it funny that standing on the side of one deity, we become the worst sort of heretics for another? Isn't it funny that when we start a rebellion, we commit a deadly sin, _hybris_, the greatest offense a man can commit? A circle with no way out, huh?"

The blond man was silent.

Shion's fist hit the wall and it broke into hundreds of shiny pieces before it disappeared into non-existence.

"I want to break this circle, Shaka."

Virgo's knight froze.

"You want this Holy War to be the last one, Grand Master?"

Shion's face lit up with a smile.

"Isn't this what all Buddhists want: to break out from the unfortunate repetition? Yes, Shaka, I want Hades not to rise again. I want his kingdom to fall. And I want the Kokytos Lake melt and free the ice-bounded souls of knights."

Virgo bowed his head, then looked again to the Grand Master's face, this time with his eyes open. He wasn't fast enough to say anything.

"I know what you want to ask," Shion stopped smiling. "Why am I telling you this. And why am I telling it only to you."

The blond nodded again, not taking his eyes off.

The Grand Master seemed to be choosing the right words in his head.

"During the last Holy War we understood one thing," he finally said, and his tone was matter-of-fact. "Hades always possesses a human body of a lad with an incredibly pure soul, but his real body, perfect body, or rather a shell that was created rather than born, lies hidden somewhere in the Elysian Fields.

"Elysian Fields?" Shaka was surprised. After all, he didn't expect that the Lord of the Underworld could entrust his final bodily vessel to a land where brutality, darkness and death are not allowed.

"Hiding in plain sight, wouldn't you say?" Shion read his doubts. "But true is, that in Hell he can reign in the form of a possessed boy, and in case of any problems, he has an emergency exit. Besides, it is a place that is not easy to get to." The Grand Master raised the scarlet-winged helmet from the seat and sat on the throne. Then he resumed: "The only way I found out is the current of the Lete. Yes, yes-" the old man said with a smile, hearing Shaka's quiet snort "-just perfect for someone who wants to get final enlightenment and forget about past reincarnations, right? But that's not why I'm telling you this. It's just the only tip I have. However, I'm certain that it wouldn't be a straight path along the river. And that this way isn't the only option to get to the Elysium. But I couldn't find alternatives."

Virgo was still silent.

"I am telling you this-" Shion understood perfectly well what the Golden Knight was waiting for, "-because you are the only one among the Twelve who would handle such a journey. We are talking about a completely different dimension of existence, Shaka," he said quickly, before Virgo was able to interrupt him. "About catching energy fluctuations, reading the aura. No one can do it like you. If it ends with searching for the real Hades' body, trying to entrap his power, you will be our hope. And our guide through Hell."

"You are much more powerful than me, Grand Master," the blond man said. "Besides, we still have Mu, Saga and Aiolos. Cancer's skills also..."

"I am old, Shaka, and my mind is not as quiet and clear as I would like. A similar trip would probably be beyond my strength. Saga and Aiolos are commanders, not seekers of truth in a sea of chaos. Yes, Deathmask would be a great _cicerone_; after all, the Hades' Underground is his playground. But he lacks patience, so he would probably get into the fight during first few seconds, instead of looking for the path to the Elysian Fields. Mu, on the other hand..." Shion smiled slightly, "...is an intelligent, prudent knight who could be perfect to help you in this journey, but he would be always hunted by souls locked in Cloths."

"I do not understand, Grand Master," Virgo was confused.

"Repairing wounded and resurrecting dead armors is not just about taking care of the Saints' proper equipment, Shaka. This is dealing with stories: the louder told, the closer to the souls of dead warriors. It is also about preserving memory. The Lete river will be trying to devour Mu, I have no doubt about that. She would like to devour me too. Memory is a heavy burden, trust me.

Shaka nodded understandingly.

"I will try to find this path, I promise. Maybe meditation will let me understand what I should be looking for."

The Grand Master smiled again.

"I'm proud of you. You fully deserve the nickname which some people are beginning to name you. The man closest to the gods..."

Virgo smiled slightly too. Yes, sometimes he heard people calling him that. Always in a whisper.

"However, there is one more thing I must tell you," Grand Master leaned towards his subordinate. "The realm of Hades has its physical gate. For years, together with Dohko, that is Old Master, we tried to locate the passage. We knew what to look for, what tips would prove crucial and we succeeded. We tracked down Heinstein Castle in Germany, the seat of Pandora, which has remained faithfully alongside the Lord of the Underworld since myth times. If we're not mistaken, the entrance to Hell is right there."

"There is probably a reason why knights are not besieging this building yet, are they?" Shaka muttered.

The head of the Sanctuary confirmed with a nod.

"The fortress not only drains the strength of Hades's enemies, which makes fighting within it a pure suicide. The building is additionally guarded by two of the worst bastards that this world has ever seen." Shion's eyes were absent, and his voice caught gloomy notes. Finally he awoke. "My master Hakurei and his brother sacrificed their lives to seal Hypnos's and Thanatos's souls. And now they are both free again and preparing for the return of Hades.

"The Twin Gods?" Virgo Saint had no idea that during such an innocent conversation he will acquire similar knowledge.

"Yes. They are... extremely powerful. Until we find a way to get rid of them, the fortress is impregnable. That's why we don't even try. If the Specters rise again, these two will probably leave the castle, but then we will deal with the 108th fighters of the Lord of the Underworld, including Three Judges, the most terrible of their ranks. Not a better prospect at all."

"There is another way. The path I should follow, right?" Shaka asked, looking with his azure eyes at the harassed and now really old face of the Grand Master.

He bowed his head and said:

"Yes, there is. And this is the path which Specters would definitely not suspect. A path that is not straight though. And which will be our ultimate alternative, do you understand? Until the worst moment, I don't want you to think about choosing it."

Shaka waited tensely for an explanation, but apparently Shion was convinced he didn't need to say anything. And indeed. Virgo widened his eyes in sudden understanding. After a while he dejected, unclasped his hands behind his back and sighed.

"I... I can't achieve that much right now. I am sorry, Grand Master, but I am not able to get final enlightenment and open myself to the Eighth Sense."

The old man got up from the throne, approached the blond man and put hands on his shoulders.

"As I said, this is the last resort, but I wanted you to be aware of this possibility. And I am convinced that it is only a matter of time before you develop your skills to such a level to achieve Arayashiki."

"No pressure at all," Shaka muttered with a hint of sarcasm, and the Grand Master laughed.

"Having a sense of humor is another thing that the rest of the Golds doesn't know about you. You hide it like a secret weapon," cheerfully said the head of the Sanctuary, returning to the gilded chair.

"But this is not the reason why you tell me all this in conspiracy, right, Grand Master?"

_Clever little bastard_, Shion thought, amused.

"Unfortunately not. We talk to each other in the face because during the previous Holy War a traitor appeared in our ranks."

Well, that was a message.

"You suspect..."

"No, just to be clear: I do not suspect anyone. But in this matter I use the policy of Soviet Russia: trust, but check. Better safe than sorry."

"Em… thank you," Shaka said in astonishment. "But... Mu?"

Shion snorted.

"Of course he would be the last to betray, he wouldn't even know how to do it if I ordered him. But my student is very... friendly. He could blurt out in good faith."

_There is a point_, Shaka thought. Mu was his best friend, but he always defended everyone regardless of the situation.

"It was a hard day, for you also a hard night, so you probably want to rest," said the Grand Master.

Virgo Knight thought back to the problem he hoped to talk to the leader of the Sanctuary.

"I would like to consult with you, Grand Master. About the prophecy of Fox Knight."

Shion sighed softly. He did everything to avoid this topic; he had no intention of telling Shaka about his predecessor, at the same time he couldn't lie, because Virgo Saint was extremely sensitive to confabulations.

"This is all very confusing and it sounds ominous, I realize. I also know that these references to sal trees can worry you, but we never really know what prophecies mean until they come true, right?"

"These were not the only references to me, Grand Master."

Shion froze.

"One day she confessed that she saw me in her vision before she came to the Sanctuary," Shaka continued. "I wasn't convinced until she told me about the item I was holding. She described the Demon Hunter. Some of the beads have turned purple. She couldn't make it up."

"Do you know anything else?" The Grand Master asked seriously.

The blond man nodded.

"She did not know the details, but from her hints I concluded that I appeared to her in the Twin Sala Garden."

"Another clue that something will happen there," Shion muttered, frowning. "But we knew that Specters would eventually wake up. The fact that several of them will fall is a kind of good news."

Shaka was silent for a moment, giving his supervisor time to digest the news. And it wasn't over yet.

"Vulpecula Saint still prophesied when I had taken her to hers cottage after the ritual," he said finally. "In the morning she said _Flowers of the Salas have withered_, although, as I found out after her awakening, she did not know that such trees exist."

Shion looked worried. He suspected that the Liwia and Shaka story would somehow intertwine, but he hoped for more positive omen. To calm himself, but above all to calm the Virgo Knight, the Grand Master asked:

"When does the flowering of salas end? Spring?"

Shaka blinked in surprise. All in all, he did not think before of this prophecy as a time marker.

"Late spring, early summer. Do you think, Grand Master, that could be the time, when the Specters' Shells will regain their souls, which would start a war?"

"I would prefer then than in two days," Shion snorted. "Understand, Shaka, I command the entire Sanctuary. Such divination is no help for me, on the contrary, because it confuses. And I feel powerless towards them, because how, for Athena sake, should I react after similar revelations?"

The old man hoped to discourage the blond knight from guessing. He was afraid that his ward will mention ghosts seen during the ritual, so he quickly asked:

"That's all she said, I hope? Quite a lot of witchcraft for one night."

Shaka shifted from foot to foot.

"Not really, Grand Master. She turned to me, saying that she was cold."

"At least that makes sense," Shion relaxed.

"And she said _Jai ho, Asmita, jai ho_."

The Grand Master's eyes widened in terror.

_Quick, make something up, you fool!_

"Do you think, Shaka, that the first five senses would overcome the other three? That it could be about an empirical self?"

Virgo opened and closed his mouth. Again, the knight's commander interpreted the girl's words differently than he did.

"I don't know, Grand Master. I was inclined to think that Asmita was a name here."

"And what did Liwia tell you after she woke up? Does she know someone like that?"

Shaka shook his head, at which his superior spread his hands in a gesture that said everything.

"As I said, we'll see what time brings. Good enough that we will be vigilant. Besides, I will tell Aiolia to keep watch the day after tomorrow in Virgo Palace. This is your only close neighbor. I hope you will spare him injury from the other shoulder."

"Except death, there is nothing certain in this world."

Shion laughed.

"Your sense of humor is developing while you're getting tired. Now, off you go to sleep. Thank you for the conversation."

The blond man bowed his head low, made a perfect half turn and left the chamber, leaving the Grand Master hardly containing himself.

"Gods, I made it," the old man sent the message via his cosmo. "I didn't have to lie, though I didn't tell the truth. A brilliant material for politics, I am wasting my potential here."

"But you haven't accepted any envelopes, you still have to learn a lot, mate," said Dohko, his voice trembling with hidden laughter. After a while he became serious. "I understand the foretelling, but the predictions by past-telling? Kassandra of computerization age, that's what."

"It's probably because of this ritual. Ancestral spirits and things," said Shion. "There, in the cemetery, I saw many of our brothers in arms. The outlines were blurred, but I couldn't be wrong, I've repaired too many armors to be mistaken and not recognize the souls of their owners. They also appeared, do you know? Anna and Asmita. Shaka probably saw only the Virgo Knight, otherwise he would have to know what to look for, and there wasn't much time anyway."

"You worry too much, Shion," the Golden Knight of Libra reprimanded him. "If it's destiny, it will be fulfilled anyway. If not, the decision belongs to the two of them."

"But what about her prophecy? Do you think..."

"I don't know, my friend," said Old Master seriously. "To tell you the truth, I'm afraid that the conflict may prevent Athena from reaching her full power. Something's coming, something different than in the previous Holy War, I feel it. Specters' mounds are stable, so Hades should be still in its infancy."

"If not him, than who?" Shion asked, taking the card with Liwia's prophecy. "The first part is an evident reference to the cyclical nature of the Holy War, its bloody harvest. But the second part... I completely can't figure it out. If it wasn't about Hades, I don't know who this two-headed leader would be. And this _angel and the devil..._"

"What about Saga and Kanon?" Dohko asked after a moment of silence. "You remember what Aspros did, what he forced Defteros to do..."

"I remember, my friend," Shion said. "That's why I watched Kanon closely for a long time, and indeed, he had the makings of being the criminal mastermind as Aspros. But imagine that Saga discovered this and put him in prison at Cape Sounion.

"Well, well," said Dohko admiringly.

"Saga suffers because of it, I sense the fight in him. He probably has remorse, but at the same time knows the duties of the Saint," Shion sighed. "Despite his merits, the next Grand Master should be someone with a clear, ready-to-act mind, so I will give Aiolos the baton tomorrow.

"Besides that, do you have some plan?" Roshi asked.

The Grand Master did not answer immediately.

"I have to rethink everything. We will probably act hot, depending on what happens the day after tomorrow. And what the constellations will show."

"So you are going to Star Hill," Dohko said.

Shion shrugged.

"For that it shall be used, right? And in two days the sky is going to be really clear. I will see what I see and then the time for deeds will come."

"Are you still able to climb up there?" Dohko's voice dripped with irony. "In your age?"

"It's not me they calling _Old Master_," the superior of the Sanctuary took a bite out of Dohko.

Honest laughter filled the room.

* * *

A knock got her out of the stagnation. She grunted, rising from the bed and waddled down the hall. Despite the falling darkness, she saw Milo in the gap of the not entirely closed door.

"Open, as you can see," she said with a slight smile.

"You had a burglary?" asked the knight, examining the torn-out lock.

"Yes. His name was Shaka."

The Scorpion looked very surprised.

"What, doesn't he know to look for keys under the doormat or under the flowerpot?"

Liwia just shrugged.

"I am not a locksmith, but if you want, I will figure out some staple," Milo replied cheerfully, reacting to the girl's inviting gesture and entering the house.

The Polish woman would probably be too proud as a real working woman and perform a latch herself the next day, but she was not in a good mood. And she didn't feel for moving anywhere.

"If it doesn't bother you, then gladly. Adhesive tape is not very professional."

She invited the man to the kitchen and offered him water and mint in her favorite mug.

"How are you?" Scorpio asked when he had looked at every corner of the room.

Liwia shrugged again. It was her _gesture for today_.

"Same as I look," she answered without emotion.

"Well, beautiful mood, I guess," the man grinned.

"Save it, Milo."

"I wish I'd been there, I'd like to count their bones so that they at least didn't feel better than you," he said, suddenly serious. Seeing the mediocre response of his interlocutor, he asked: "What's going on, Liwuś?"

"What do you mean: what's going on?" the girl raised her voice involuntarily. "You must have seen the prophecy. And what I foretold to the whole Sanctuary."

"Yup, I saw it. And I still don't understand your takeover." Milo took a cookie from the plate and ate it with taste.

Liwia blinked, not knowing if Scorpio was mocking or just kidding.

"Seriously, Milo? There is a time to plant and a time to harvest. A time of jokes and a time of anxiety. Don't you see all this is tense?"

"I've always been bad at grammar," he said lightly and added immediately, anticipating her indignation: "What, better lie down and whine? We will live and we will see."

"Maybe we won't live long to see," she grunted, and Scorpio, of course, laughed. "Aren't you afraid of anything?"

"Liwuś." The man took her hands from the table top and locked them in his own. "I have the feeling that you are in some strange way accusing yourself of what you foretold. This is your first mistake. Don't let anyone tell you that whatever happens, will be your fault. The second mistake is that you look at us as an ordinary people. Sure, we try to live a normal life, try somehow to replace family relationships and, I dunno, employee relations? But we have become the Knights of Athena. This is not a future profession, we probably do not end up with rheumatism and scoliosis from working behind the desk. You have to live as long as you can and that's all I can say."

Liwia sighed and shook her head in disbelief, but her injured face lit up with a slight smile.

"Okay, I'll go to get that staple or hook, Al should have a toolbox. Don't go anywhere." He threatened her funny with his finger and began to head for the exit.

"Tell my _legal guardian_ not to worry. He was here before you and looked like a father whose daughter had been disgraced," the female warrior laughed.

"If your countrymen didn't run after all this party, our Bull would have done a nice rodeo to them," Scorpio grinned and walked out into the darkness of the Sanctuary.

Liwia watched him until he disappeared, glad that at least one man would stand by her side and would not accuse her of what will happen.

As long as any accusers or accused persons survive this final judgment.

* * *

The whole next day inhabitants of the Sanctuary spent in preparations for unspecified horror. More or less organized chaos was everywhere, knights and warriors aspiring to this title ran around the entire complex, following the orders of superiors, checking armament, tightness of protection, and finally practicing possible scenarios of behavior. Although the content of the prophecy was given only to the Golden Knights, the atmosphere was nervous, because the rest filled the unawareness with guesses, unintentionally spreading panic.

Liwia had a dispensation because of the physical consequences of the ritual, but as a result of her own insistence, she was assured that she would spend the next day on a vigil at Aries House. Somewhere else she couldn't stand her nerves, and, besides, as a medium she had to be nearby. So much good of her supernatural abilities that theoretically she became useful.

A dozen or so minutes after midnight, the door of the Grand Master's Chamber opened slightly and two men came out of the room, leaving the leader of the Sanctuary alone. At least for a few seconds.

Shion was just enjoying thought that declaring the decision of choosing his successor had passed in a planned, most successful way: Aiolos acknowledged it, and Saga assured his support as Sagittarius's right hand. It couldn't have been better. And when Shion was ready to go to rest, to be full of vitality and mental strength tomorrow, some theatrical throat clearing pulled out of his thoughts. Mask stood at the threshold of his throne room.

"I am begging your pardon for disturbing you at this late hour, Grand Master,-" he began, coming a little closer, "-but since the world may end tomorrow, I would like to ask for one small thing."

"Well, shoot, Mephisto." Shion put his chin on his hand, preparing various versions of elegant refusal.

"I am asking for permission to take a disciple."

This was something Grand Master didn't expect.

"My, oh, my. Somebody is growing up here."

Mask winced in a parody of a smile, as if to say "Very funny".

"And who would be so terribly honored?" continued the leader of the Sanctuary.

"Silver Vulpecula Saint, Grand Master."

"You want to take Liwia under your wing?" the old man was shocked. Not only because Cancer finally decided to take some trouble and train the student (previously he only attempted to raise servants or slaves, so Shion after a few days transferred the unfortunate ones to Andromeda Island to the Silver Knight of Cepheus, Albior), but he also chose a girl. And it was a girl who had a high rank among the rest of the knights.

"I know, I know, she's a lady, and I'm considered indecently handsome. But I will chase away within my humble possibilities, I promise." Mask raised both hands in a sincere intention gesture. When Grand Master didn't react to this joke, Cancer said, in a more serious tone: "Liwia has great potential, to not use it is just totally wasteful. I thought about this proposal already during her fight in the arena with our girls, and finally I decided after the ritual. In the end I might show her how to live on the edge of the living and dead worlds. Who knows, maybe it will save her mental health someday, because for being a medium, even today you could be taken to a funny farm. And I heard that the girl uses everything she has at hand during the fight and the other tin cans describe that she can play unfair. She also has a sharp tongue, identical to my. So it suits me," Italian man added at the end.

"Sharp tongue isn't an argument for giving a disciple, Mask," Grand Master muttered. "Besides, in fight Liwia relies on agility, I don't know if you wouldn't lose this feature in her. Without stupid thoughts, I see it, Mephisto. Seriously, you wouldn't be able to keep up with her, how many fags you smoke per day, huh? But I agree that the girl could gain a lot by training with Gold Knight, and in the future she would be suitable as a replacement for one of you. However, I have to think about it and now we have more urgent problems."

"Yeah, no problem, I just wanted to tell about it before I would change my mind." After a casual bow Mask left the room.

Shion thought that the world was really ending.

* * *

The third of November was a very sunny day. The shield held by the statue of Athena on the top of the temple reflected the glow like a huge lantern, the blinding blue sky dazzled the eyes, the birds twittered like possessed. Only stiff warriors, walking on the training grounds as if they had starched shirts on their backs, spoiled the image of the idyllic landscape.

And they were everywhere. They patrolled not only the Sanctuary, but also Rodorio and the suburbs of Athens. When the sun began to set, their many silhouettes cast long, ghostly shadows onto the scorched earth.

Standing under one of the carved columns of the Aries Palace, Liwia watched from a distance the student and his master. Immersed in silent conversation, they didn't seem to care about the general nervousness that overcame the Sanctuary and the irritating scent of coffee that was poured into the warriors' clay mugs straight from giant cauldrons.

Grand Master finally turned his face to her and nodded slightly. She responded with a deep bow, and when she looked back again she saw only a scrap of navy blue robe. Grand Master went to the Star Hill.

"Still worried, huh?" Mu walked up to her calmly. He had the helmet of the Golden Ram Armor under his arm.

Liwia made an indefinite gesture.

"Somehow I don't share Mask's optimism," she said. "Do you know that he argued with the chef today about the sense of adding pepper to béchamel sauce?"

The lavender-haired knight smiled cheerfully.

"You know this is his constant pose. A second after telling a joke, he can send his opponents to hell, so it's not like he has to be tuned in somehow. Besides…" the man turned his face toward the sharp hill soaring through the clouds "…this morning at the briefing, Grand Master admitted that he has a plan. We must trust him."

The Polish woman nodded, slightly calmed down. Her gaze slipped from the legendary meditation place for the Sanctuary superiors to the equally legendary and almost equally high column crowned with the Zodiac Clock.

"This thing is still working?" she asked, pointing to its black face. "I have heard that this relic of ancient times is fired in exceptional situations with the power of Athena or Grand Master."

"I know as much as you do," Mu replied. "And somehow I'd rather not see it lit."

"I'm not surprised," Liwia murmured. "You are the avant-garde, the Spear of the Golden Knights, the Wall against which evil is crashing..."

"Well now I am feeling much better, thanks." Mu gave her his gentle smile. "We have a moment to start vigil; you want a tea? By the way, tell me, what Milo will get from you for his birthday... "

* * *

"...I will get loafers for dancing, for sure!" Milo was excited.

"You two are already at such a stage that she knows your foot size?" Camus asked and drank chilled lemonade.

"Or a Smokie's disk!" Scorpio continued to deliberate.

"Or underpants sewn thanks to the co-production of the Greek and Spanish clothing brands," Aquarius mocked. "Concave at the front to make you feel comfortable."

* * *

"Is it comfortable for you to sit like that?" Aiolia asked after half an hour wondering how to bite a conversation with blond man. Young Lion strategically chose the most distant tile of the floor relative to the stone lotus, on which the Virgo Saint was in the yogi position.

Shaka was silent.

Half hour later.

"You manage to comb such long hair?"

* * *

"Yuck!" Mask stuck out his tongue and pulled long, wavy, blue hair out of his mouth. "Don't you know that during food preparations the shag must be tied?"

Aphrodite looked seriously offended.

"Yeah, right: give me food, give me drink… maybe I shall implement some massage for your highness? Oh, no, my apologize, probably my fucking fingers ARE TOO LONG!"

"Stop yelling, we are at your place, so who should be a serviced guest here?" Cancer threw the hair to the floor with disgust on his face.

"You can be serviced by cheap sluts in a brothel! Here you can stay only with my consent, peasant."

Deathmask laughed throatily, then took all the letters from his bench and put them in the right place on the board of scrabble game.

"Looks like I won again," he said almost singingly, dodging the kinetic energy of the bullet made by olive.

* * *

Aldebaran's olive face suddenly turned purple. To detonation there were hundredths of a second.

"Buahahahahaha!" the man roared, bending in half, which still gave him a height larger than was most of the warriors in the Sanctuary.

"The truth I told you, as I am Shura, Capricorn Knight!" The host of the tenth Zodiac Palace grinned. "Seriously thought the adolescent that with my Excalibur a doctor referral for him I would evenly cut."

"Where did you bury his body? Admit." Aiolos elbowed him, choking with laughter.

Shura just waved his hand, which, with his habit of holding it stiffly, looked like the movement of a dilapidated car wiper.

"His butt only I scratched up and trousers cut, so the wind whistled through the cracks. To the physician with a clear conscience at least go now he can."

"Gods!" Aiolos wiped a tear of amusement. "Don't let me ever fall under your guillotine hand."

"Do you remember name of that youngster, Shura?"Aldebaran asked, still bent of joy.

"Knows fuck. Greg maybe... or some Gregory..."

* * *

"Well, Georg!" said Juan, Pictor Silver Knight.

"Yhm, Juan!" replied proudly Georg, the Silver Knight of the Southern Cross, massaging his sore ass.

They stood for a moment staring into space. Their patrol on the outskirts of Athens was in full swing. Nothing was happening on the horizon. They were far from anything important.

"So much happening, don't you think, Georg?" Juan nudged his friend and pointed to the quiet suburbs lit by the lanterns.

"Totally cool," Georg nodded.

* * *

She couldn't keep her cool. The stool, made by simple board, creaked when Liwia got up again during a few minutes. As if someone had scattered hot coals under it.

"Your nervousness also spreads to me," Mu reprimanded her lightly.

"Sorry."

The girl began to walk again along the entire Aries House, every now and then looking toward the inky black sky.

* * *

Sky sparkled with jewelry of stars. Shion looked away from those signs written by silver letters and looked at the Sanctuary lying below. At the Zodiac Houses climbing up the rocks. At the statue of Athena on the sewing of the temple. The statue had unusually open, empty right hand, and the center of the round shield held by Goddess in the left hand was hollow.

If something bad happens today, the three-year-old goddess's body will be protected, he had no doubt about it. To the chamber, where the silent Guardians watched over her earthly shell, he brought two of the most valuable items in all Greece: the statuette of Nike and the golden Aegis, the legendary shield of Athena. Success in a clash and protection – that was what they needed, which was not only told in the Liwia's prophecy. Stars also spoke about it.

An unexpected sound pulled him out of his thoughts. Although it was practically impossible, he could not be wrong. Someone was coming to meet him.

* * *

"Someone is coming," said the Golden Knight of the Ram, listening attentively to the almost inaudible footsteps coming from above. Finally, the host of the first Zodiac House stated: "Aldebaran."

His hearing had to be no worse than his Indian friend, because it took a long time before Liwia caught the sound of footsteps, and more before she saw the figure of a Brazilian.

"What happened?" Mu asked, surprised.

The Grand Master's arrangements were clear: from eight in the evening the Golden Knights were forbidden to leave the Houses assigned to them that day.

Aldebaran took off his helmet and ruffled his black, sweaty bristles.

"I wanted to ask if you've seen Saga somewhere." The man put the golden horns back on. "He wasn't in his place when I was on the way back from above before eight, and he rather shouldn't be able to fly, I guess."

* * *

"You shouldn't be here, Saga," said the Grand Master, seeing finally who the darkness of the night had emerged. "I don't know how you managed to get here, but better you have a good reason."

"I have," Golden Gemini Saint answered weakly.

Shion tensed, ready to attack. Maybe it wasn't Kanon who was supposed to be feared of?

However, Saga fell to one knee, clearly suffering.

"Athena... Sanctuary..."

Grand Master's eyes widened in panic. He ran to his subordinate and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"What happened? Talk to me, Saga! Tell... your hair..."

Was it possible for this man to turn gray in one second?

"What happened at the Sanctuary?!" exclaimed Grand Master, shaking him.

And then the Golden Knight lifted his face.

"Nothing yet," Saga replied in a completely foreign voice, and dark red eyes looked at Shion. Eyes like two wounds.

* * *

"For Karna's wounds, I haven't seen him since this morning!" Mu admitted, amazed. "Maybe it has something to do with the Grand Master's plan?"

Aldebaran shrugged with his arms, big as agricultural machinery pistons.

"Could be. But it's a bit strange after all, because..."

He didn't finish.

The three of them, standing near the entrance of the Aries Palace, looked up at the sky. Darkness over Star Hill was suddenly torn apart by the bloody, demonic glow of cosmic energy.

* * *

Demon Emperor Fist pierced Shion's mind like a treacherous blade.

"Old fool." The voice coming out of Saga's mouth divulged cruel amusement. "You might be able to defend yourself against the effects of this attack if you weren't in such a deplorable state. Years go by, huh?" He sneered, watching the writhing body of the Grand Master. "And all you had to do was just choose me instead of this prude, Aiolos. I'm better than him, much more powerful. Killing people like you or him will be an act of mercy for the world, because only the strongest can rule. But before I free you from the suffering of life, you must do something for me. And you know what."

Shion roared furiously and then choked out:

"No... no… I won't let... you won't be…"

The gray-haired Saga snorted.

"You have no chance, old man. You don't even realize what you're up against. You don't even know-" he said, and his voice resonated strangely, as if those words were no longer spoken by human being "-how great sin you commit by rebelling against the verdicts of God! I am Ares' Herald, he chose me, me, a torn fool, to conquer the world for him and get rid of Athena. I will repay this pathetic goddess for all defeats since myth times!" he shouted, but after a while he said calmly, in a voice that still did not belong to the Saga, but was definitely of human origin: "Are you obeying me? Will you kill Athena?"

Deep, dramatic breaths shook Shion's body, but his face lit up with a rebellious smile as he looked toward his opponent.

"Ares, is that so...? I admit... that... I didn't expect... the god of unjust war. However, this..." he growled, pointing to the ground, under their feet "…makes no difference for me..."

Possessed by Ares Saga looked down suddenly. Something crunched beneath the golden shoes of Twins' Armor, there were some longitudinal strips of paper under a thin layer of soil. In one second they lit up with strange magical power.

The entire ground of the Star Hill was strewn with Athena's Seals.

* * *

"By the Athena, what's going on there?" Aldebaran walked around like a furious bull. Liwia and the Aries Saint stared at the sky like enchanted; though the red flare did not come back, the strange vibration of the power kept coming on.

"Mu?" Liwia looked at Golden Knight, watching his pale face.

He didn't answer for a moment.

"We were told to wait in readiness for the order," Mu replied finally, although the girl saw how much this discipline cost him. "So we are waiting for the Grand Master."

* * *

Grand Master watched with satisfaction as the spirit of Ares was curling up in black weaves above the body of the kneeling Saga. With the last of his strength, Shion pulled a small golden box out of his robe and opened the lid with trembling fingers. The power was rebelling terribly, resisting against the seals, the last seals from the previous Holy War, but although they were fragile and their strength faded in time, Ares apparently hasn't been in his full power yet. Impatience led him to doom.

There was an inhuman scream, the box has closed, cutting off the spirit of the god from the outside world; Shion scooped one of the seals together with clods of ground and put his shaky hands to the joint of the lid and box. The shining power melted the gap, and the casket, now calm and cold, fell at the Grand Master's feet.

Shion, all shivering from the duel, looked happy ahead. And froze. Saga, kneeling before him, still had gray hair. And hellishly red eyes.

"I underestimated you, old man," he said, getting up. Grand Master's head was pierced by the unimaginable pain of the resonating Demon Emperor Fist. "You was able to ruin not only my divine support from Ares, but also the plan to kill Athena by your hands. Because I see that it's no use. You won't give in, will you?"

A long moan was the whole answer.

"Fine," Saga replied. "I still have my own power. The power of the Golden Knight. And the mind of the Golden Knight. Even without support from Ares, I will take over the Sanctuary and then over the whole world. Perhaps even it will be better that way." His face was distorted by a cruel smile. "After all, I always preferred to do everything by myself."

He raised a hand, ready to pierce Shion, but then suddenly clutched his head as if he had suffered a huge dose of pain.

"You won't... Get out, you fool!... I won't let you hurt... Get away from... YOU HAVE NO POWER TO FORBID ME ANYTHING!"

Saga's hair, which was changing from navy to gray all the time, finally lit up, and the scream that infallibly belonged to well-known in the whole Sanctuary Knight of the Twins broke off dramatically along with his cosmic energy. What began to emanate from the Saga's body, from the new, evil Saga, was a completely different, terrifying cosmo.

Grand Master tried to do anything during this battle of two personalities, but he knew that he had no more strength and his time was coming to its end. With the last effort of will, he managed to telepathically send to his friend, the Old Master, one word: Saga.

"This... this fool will not disturb us anymore," Gemini Saint said in a strange voice. "Even if it happens for him to come back for a short while, he knows I'll eventually turn him out. And the price for his disobedience, for uncovering my plan during the moment of weakness, will be very high: I will murder everyone in the entire Sanctuary, all of Athens and every other city that I encounter along the way. Do you understand, old man? Now you understand what this prophetic girl foretold?"

Yes, Shion understood. And as he watched the coming blow, his last thoughts wandered around two questions.

Could he have done differently and should he have done differently?

Saga wiped his hands on the clothing of the Grand Master. He got rid of the Gemini Cloth, which had flown away to the third Zodiac House and took a scarlet red helmet from Shion's head.

He slowly entered the temple where the leader of the Sanctuary was resting, when his meditations lasted a long time. He found a fresh, navy blue robe and other items of Grand Master's clothing. He also took the attribute of the commander of all eighty-eight Knights, which his predecessor had never used, and which was to form the basis of the whole intricate plan. Saga put a dark blue, ominously shimmering mask on his face.

When he left, blood from Shion's body fell on the faded seals of Athena. Their ancient energy dissipated. Saga passed by them and with a bit of his disharmonious cosmo set fire to the relics of the previous Holy War; blue flames shot up into the sky.

* * *

Sky has ripped by Aries Saint's terrible clamor. Liwia didn't think that this man was able to scream at all.

"The cosmic energies of Saga... and Grand Master... have disappeared," Aldebaran said in unnatural voice.

Everything seemed unreal. The Pole had the impression that she was still under the influence of intoxicating substances from the Dziady ritual. Overwhelmed with dullness, she paid no attention to anything but the echo of Mu's cry. She didn't even notice that other Golds began to appear next to him. And that the sky was pierced by the Golden Gemini Armor, which landed somewhere in the third Zodiac Palace. Or that the Star Hill was embraced by blue tongues of fire. Night of Flames.

"It is impossible. That can't be possible," whispered Aiolia, who joined the three of them.

"Did you sense it?!" Milo yelled from the threshold.

Around Liwia began swarmed like in a beehive. There was an extraordinary fuss, every one began to think loudly about the possible variants of events and, above all, discussed whether they should continue to guard the Twelve Houses of the Zodiac or go to the already peaceful Star Hill.

Virgo Knight approached Mu and put a hand on his shoulder. The silence between them was scary, but eventually Liwia understood that men were talking telepathically. Whatever Shaka was saying though, did not help, because the lavender-haired warrior had suffering written on his face. Finally, he jerked away from his friend's grip and ran into the night. Many of the other Golds only waited for this signal. They jumped to the run and followed him.

Suddenly, before the darkness of the night could swallow the silhouette of the Aries Knight, everyone sensed a very strange cosmic presence. A moment later, Mu began to step back, terrified. Everyone's eyes fell on a mysterious figure, dressed in a long navy blue robe and wearing a red, characteristic helmet on his head.

"Who are you?" Mu whispered with difficulty, disturbing the absolute silence that had come at once.

The man smiled, although no one could see this.

"My name is Arles. I am your new Grand Master."


End file.
